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Greece imposes a tobacco ban in public places on July 1 in its third attempt in a decade to stamp out the habit in Europe's biggest-smoking nation, the health ministry said.

Under the terms of a law voted a year ago, thousands of restaurants and bars over 70 square meters will have to build sealed-off smoking areas.

Establishments under that size must choose whether to accept smokers or go entirely tobacco-free, while those lighting up illegally will face fines up to 500 euros (703 dollars).

“Our society is more ready than ever to embrace this,” Health Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos told a news conference.

Around 20,000 Greeks die every year from tobacco-related ailments and around 42 percent of the population smokes according to European Commission figures, ahead of Bulgaria (39 percent) and Latvia (37 percent).

The anti-smoking push is the third this decade, after legislation passed in 2002 and 2003 outlawing smoking in public places was mostly ignored.

“In Greece we are used to saying that laws are passed but not enforced,” conceded Avramopoulos.

“Smoking is already prohibited in hospitals but the ban is not obeyed.”