MILAN, Italy (AFP) — Smokers in Italy's financial and fashion capital of Milan risk being fined for lighting up on city streets or crowded public areas, after the country's toughest ban comes into effect Wednesday.

Those who defy the new prohibition in the polluted northern Italian city could be fined between 40 to 240 euros ($41 to $249), a punishment that does not sit well with all residents.

"The new law is excessive in my opinion. I agree not to smoke indoors, not to smoke near an elderly person or a child, but banning smoking outdoors for me somewhat limits a person's freedom," local plumber Morgan Ishak, 46, told Agence France-Presse ahead of the ban.

Milan's air quality ordinance, passed in 2020 by the city council, called for progressively stricter bans on smoking.

Starting in 2021, it was forbidden to smoke in parks and playgrounds as well as bus stops and sports facilities.

The latest smoking ban, effective 1 January, applies to "all public spaces, including streets" with the exception of "isolated places where it is possible to maintain a distance of at least 10 meters from other people," according to the text.

Local officials say the measure is aimed at reducing particulates in the air to "improve the quality of the city's air, to protect the health of citizens, including protection from passive smoking in public places, also frequented by children," according to a statement.

The ban — which comes ahead of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics — does not apply to e-cigarettes.

Situated in the middle of the industrial Po Valley and choked with road traffic, Milan is one of Europe's most polluted cities in terms of air.