Smoking is now only for the rich and politicians

Forum user claims smoking is now only for the wealthy

A participant in an online forum asserts that "smoking is now only for the rich and politicians" and that "the poor can't even afford a pack of Ducados anymore." This complaint, echoed in a discussion about tobacco pricing, reflects the perception of a market where, according to another user, the State collects more taxes from a smoking population of over 25% than it did three decades ago, when half the country smoked. The prevailing diagnosis among participants is uncomfortable: the habit has become a luxury item with no room left in a tight household budget.

From 33 pesetas to €5.35: Half a century of price hikes

Price memory serves as this country's best economic archive. Some recall buying Ducados for 33 pesetas in the eighties and unfiltered Celtas Cortos for 11 pesetas per pack. Others remember even lower prices: 6 pesetas for Celtas and 30 pesetas for Fortuna. In 1989, when the price of Ducados rose to 51 pesetas, it sparked national outrage recorded in the BOE (Official Gazette). Today, that same pack costs the equivalent of 888 pesetas, yet nobody calls for a strike.

Comparing tobacco to alcohol undermines the health argument, according to some participants. A liter bottle of wine cost 100 pesetas thirty years ago and costs one euro today. Tobacco, however, multiplied its price by more than twenty times. The lingering question is why one equally harmful product sees such steep increases while the other barely moves. The circulating answer has little to do with health: tobacco demand is inelastic, smokers don't negotiate, making it the perfect cash cow.

How much of that price is tax and how much is tobacco?

The business structure is what irritates most. According to calculations circulating in the thread, tobacco is bought from farmers at €4 or €5 per kilo and sold at the tobacconist for €250 per kilo, always with government permission. This margin multiplies the original cost fiftyfold and can only exist under a regulated sales monopoly. Comparisons with mask prices during the pandemic arise naturally in the conversation.

Smokers doing the math find alternatives. Some claim to buy tobacco by the kilo for €30, covering two months of consumption. Others look to their terraces: home-grown pots that, reportedly, are the envy of the neighborhood. It’s not a simple option. Freshly harvested tobacco is raw and requires controlled fermentation, with relative humidity between 85% and 95% and temperatures up to 40 degrees, a process historically done in ship cellars known as cellar tobacco.

The health argument that doesn't hold water

All sides agree tobacco is harmful. The disagreement lies in what to do about it. If it is so damaging, logic dictates banning it. Instead, it is taxed. During the pandemic, tobacco was considered an essential good, and tobacconists remained open—a detail many highlight with sarcasm. The conclusion drawn is that the goal is not public health but revenue collection, with the remaining 25% of smokers sustaining a portion of the budget previously paid by 50%.

Meanwhile, quality has deteriorated. Some argue current tobacco is too poor in quality to cause addiction, while others note that nicotine isn't among the carcinogens in smoke, though it creates the dependency that makes the business profitable. The interval between cigarettes, one analysis summarizes, is pure withdrawal syndrome.

Tobacco as a thermometer for the wallet

Tobacco prices serve as an indicator of broader trends. In 1996, when the most expensive pack hovered around 350 pesetas, salaries were similar to today's. Tobacco went up, oil went up, housing went up. The outrage over the 51 pesetas increase in 1989 has turned into resignation toward annual hikes nobody questions. The capacity for scandal has exhausted itself before the capacity to pay.

The complete calculation, with year-by-year prices and broken-down tax burdens, paints a picture explaining why tobacconists remain busy while shopping baskets grow increasingly empty.