I heard from a friend that flew CCS-MAD and back with them, and she told me that both flights were pretty good, nice F/As, open bar and good food despite she was in coach. When we talked about her flights I didn't know about the smoking section so I didn't ask and also she didn't mention it.
I plan on going to Europe on vacation sometime this year, I'll definitely choose Santa Barbara for two main reasons:
1-Lowest Fares
2-To support a national carrier
I rather fly Santa Barbara old DC10s than giving my money to Iberia, despite the fact that I would love to get the chance to fly on an A340. I might fly on Air Europa, but I doubt it, Venezuela's economy needs help and I'll do anything I can to support my own.
If I ever fly to Frankfurt, I'll be happy to fly lufthansa's A340s from Caracas.
Santa Barbara also flies seasonally to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain (there's is a large spanish community living in Venezuela that came from La Coruņa region many years ago)
Loads on flights to Spain are very high, Sta. barbara feeds pax from Lima and Quito to that flight too.