One of the first things my two "never-been-to-Spain-before" friends noticed on our trip this month was the plethora of smokers in all areas of Spain.
I too am one of those in-your-face non-smokers, and I don't back down even though I'm in another country. I don't see it as "it's their country", I see it as "they're my lungs", and I'm trying to do what I can to preserve them (including moving out of Southern California cuanto antes!).
The "rules" that are in place now in Spain are routinely ignored and nobody says anything (since the majority of Spaniards share the vicio). I wish I would've snapped this indicative picture: In Barajas, a woman was blowing her smoke onto the "no fumar" sign right above her head.
When at a restaurant I would simply blow the smoke back onto the table of the person next to me, etc. They seemed to get the hint, and since I'm able to respond quite clearly and assertively to anyone in Spanish, I haven't had an issue. I actually ended up striking up a conversation (quite amiable) with a woman in a Santiago restaurant.
I think my shining moment on this latest trip had to be when, while walking by a car in Segovia last Saturday, an empty pack of cigarettes was thrown out of the open driver's side window. I was just in front and walked up, bent down, picked up the pack and threw them into the lap of the driver telling him "se te cayó" ['hey you dropped this...']. The driver in the car behind him honked his horn, cheered his agreement and told me "¡muy bien, muy bien!" while the other driver told me "aquí, toma..." as he tried to get me to turn around and acknowledge him. I didn't hacerle caso, I had already had my fun... My friend about wet his pants and couldn't believe my audacity, but we had a great chuckle over that whole incident.
[not really a smoke story, but a litter one, and still pretty darn funny to me!!!]
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Ongi etorri!
). He told us the phrase - and then told us not to bother because everywhere allowed you to smoke. 
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