[Tobacco advertising and printed mass media in Spain: a fatal attraction].

Objective: Tobacco advertising is a powerful factor in encouraging smoking initiation. We analyzed tobacco advertising in written mass media in Spain between 2002 and 2005.

Methods: We performed an annual cross-sectional study of advertisements in the 41 most widely disseminated written mass media (nearly 10 million readers).

Results: In the period studied, 37% of the media included tobacco advertising (an average of 4.35 million readers). Only 4% of the media included anti-drug campaigns (an average of 0.27 million readers). Tobacco advertising increased from 2.0 to 4.7% (overall) and from 4.3 to 8.0% (in media allowing tobacco advertising). Four out of every 10 readers and one out of eight Spaniards aged 15 years or older were exposed to tobacco advertising. Fifty-six percent of advertisements included young people.

Conclusions: Tobacco advertising remains prominent in written mass media in Spain and was mainly directed at young people.