Strictly comply with a law apparently as simple as the well-known
law of the glass of water
,
that forces catering establishments to offer free tap water as an alternative to plastic bottles, is being more complicated than it seems.
The measure that came into force in April and is intended to reduce the consumption of single-use containers is partially complied with in the establishments in Madrid and Barcelona that this newspaper has visited.
The key is in the word "offer", an action that, according to the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) and the clients consulted, rarely happens.
In Barcelona, hoteliers allege that they usually recommend not drinking tap water because it doesn't taste very good.
In Andalusia, on the other hand, the measure has been in force for four years thanks to an autonomous regulation and in the businesses visited in the province of Cádiz the custom is more established.
In a tour of a dozen places and terraces in the center of Madrid carried out by EL PAÍS it was possible to verify that although nobody is denied a glass of water, the first option is to bring a bottle whose price varies from 1 to 3 euros in the most touristic places.
In some places the paroxysm goes further because, when the consumer demands water, it is delivered in a plastic cup that seconds later ends up in the trash.
In this way, the law is complied with, but the spirit of the law, aimed at reducing the use of plastics, is betrayed.
This is common in fast food chains, where the glass is non-existent and the jug of water is in the center, a practice that would drive any manager crazy.
Gemma has taken a break from her visit to the center of Madrid while eating a sandwich on Calle Postas.
Both she and her son drink only two glasses of water.
“No one has ever denied us the glass, but they don't offer it either.
The first thing is to give you a bottle and then you have to tell the waiter 'no, no, from the tap”, she explains with the squid in her hand.
Article 18.3 of the Law on Waste and Contaminated Soils for a Circular Economy approved eight months ago states that "in establishments in the hotel and restaurant sector, consumers, clients or users of their services must always be offered the possibility of consumption of non-bottled water free of charge and complementary to the offer of the same establishment”.
The measure is a historical requirement of the OCU for locals to always offer a jug or a glass of tap water for free and responded to the slap on the wrist that Brussels has given Spain for the little effort made to reduce the packaging of a only use.
In this direction, this year the Law for the Prevention of Food Loss and Waste, known as the 'tupeware law', came into force.
that allows customers to bring their own containers to the premises to eat uneaten food at home.
The norm also obliges restaurants to provide containers at no cost if required.
A waiter serves a glass of water in a bar near the Plaza Mayor, in Madrid.
samuel sanchez
Two friends eat some patatas bravas, a beer and a glass of water on the terrace of a snack bar a few meters from Puerta del Sol. “I'm tired of drinking so much at Christmas and today I only wanted water.
I asked for a glass of water and they brought it to me without any problem”, says one of them.
Ileana Izverniceanu, communication director of the OCU, points out that her organization has not received any complaints about the obligation for catering establishments to "deliver tap water for free", but "quite the opposite".
“We observe that this is done globally and widely, but we have also detected that when a customer voluntarily asks for water, they bring them a bottle.
It is the consumer who has to specify that he wants a glass or a jug of water, ”she explains.
In a multinational coffee shop on Calle Montera, a customer asks for a coffee and a water.
The employee's first impulse is to charge a bottle of almost two euros until the customer asks for a glass of water and the waiter delivers up to two without question.
Among other paradoxes of the tourist center in the Plaza Mayor, the restaurants offer menus for 11 euros that include wine, soft drinks or (bottled) water with the meal.
In other countries such as France or England, requesting tap water is also a right included in a law and in Spain, until its approval at the national level, only Navarra, Castilla y León, Andalusia or the Balearic Islands had their own laws that guaranteed free access to tap water to customers, even in hotels.
The offer of water can be, however, a shot in the foot for the good memories of the place if it is among the worst quality in Spain.
According to a study by the OCU in 62 Spanish municipalities, Burgos, San Sebastián or Madrid are among the best waters in Spain and Palma, Huelva or Barcelona among the worst.
Clients of a restaurant in Barcelona consume bottled water.Carles Ribas
Elena Gómez and her university classmates await their meal at a König restaurant in the center of Barcelona, a Catalan franchise with several establishments in the city frequented by both tourists and locals.
The Audiovisual Communication students, who have just been served glass bottles of water, admit that they had only asked the waiter for “water” without specifying anything else, even knowing that the new norm has been in force for eight months.
“We would have to ask for it from the tap because you save money, but it is customary: ask for water and see what they bring you.
They look at you badly if you ask for tap water,” says Gómez.
"I am from Ripollet, a town on the outskirts, and the water there is much better," jokes the student.
Neither Gómez nor his group remember being offered a glass of water as soon as they sat down at a local table in the last year.
A waiter from the establishment explains that when tourists ask for a glass of water, he warns them that the water in Barcelona does not taste very good: "In the end, most of them end up asking for bottled water."
At La Boquería, María José serves customers at the Pinotxo bar, a historic location in this market on La Rambla.
She points out that, despite the new regulations, there is no custom: "In one year they have asked me for a glass of water five times."
A couple of streets up, Pere Fonts, owner of l'Antic Forn, points out that French clients usually ask for tap water, who in their country are used to finding a jug on the restaurant table as soon as they arrive.
Pepe Cabot works at Ca L'Estevet, another nearby establishment specializing in Catalan cuisine.
He comments that in the Raval the demand for bottled water “is very high”.
“We do not recommend drinking tap water in Barcelona to anyone, although it is undoubtedly more sustainable”, concludes the hotelier.
A waiter with two glasses of water in a bar near the Plaza Mayor, in Madrid.
samuel sanchez
The Andalusian outpost
Eva Amorós works in the shadow of a 13th century castle and in a town as touristy as El Puerto de Santa María, in Cádiz.
But in their cafeteria with vintage decoration and homemade cakes from their own workshop, La Chicha Yeyé, they have never skimped on the tap water: “We have had a jug of water since we opened [in 2015] and, especially, at breakfast time .
In a personal capacity, I never deny nor will I deny anyone a glass of water, nor to use the bathroom”, justifies the businesswoman.
Her posture is generous and even at the time she was a pioneer.
But today she is not so strange in Andalusia, since a regional law obliges hospitality businesses to offer free water to their customers since 2018.
It was in January of that year when the Junta de Andalucía (at that time, in the hands of the PSOE) approved its draft Law for the Promotion of a Healthy Life and a Balanced Diet in which, among other measures, it imposed on hospitality businesses — although not those of nightlife - the requirement to have free tap water available to their customers.
Amorós goes further and even offers it to people who do not consume: "When leaving school, many children come in to ask me for a glass of water and I give it to them."
These four years of validity of the regional law have accustomed customers and hoteliers to the use of running water.
In the capital of Cádiz, it has even become more normalized with campaigns such as those of the municipal company Aguas de Cádiz, which has been giving away glass jugs to hospitality businesses for years to value the liquid from the network.
“The normal thing is that people ask for a glass of water, bottles, little.
Whoever asks for them is because they don't want to drink anything and out of politeness they ask for that to take a table ”, points out Amorós.
Barely half an hour of observation at noon on his terrace confirms his words: the waiters bring all kinds of alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages, glasses of water, but no bottles of water.
Amorós was aware of the approval of the new state circular economy law, as was Antonio de María, president of the Cadiz hoteliers association Horeca.
“The new law has not affected much.
The hotel industry always provided tap water to customers who requested it and at no cost”, explains the head of the Cádiz businessmen.
The entity has even made a poster design available to its partners for those who want to make it clear in their premises that they offer their "distinguished clientele the possibility of free non-bottled water".
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