Coffee shop owners hold signs reading "Don't ban customers from smoking in coffee shops" on the streets of Brussels on April 23.
About 830 coffee shop owners and other supporters demonstrated on the streets of Brussels, Belgium, April 23 to protest against the new smoking ban that will be implemented from July 1.
Belgium plans to extend smoking bans in public places to all cafes from July 1. Protesters fear that coffee shop revenues will fall by 30 to 50 percent once the smoking ban is implemented.
According to the local coffee and restaurant industry federation, Belgium has 12,000 coffee shops, of which 4000 to 5000 will be directly threatened by the new law. They asked for more flexibility in smoking bans, allowing coffee shop owners to decide whether to ban smoking in their stores.
