Why are Spaniards using supermarkets as a dating app?

Some young people are moving away from traditional dating apps to look for potential partners in supermarkets in the Spanish capital.

This trend, which started as a joke, went viral on social media in Spain, especially in Madrid.

To participate, the recommendation is to go to a supermarket of a famous national chain between 7pm and 8pm. According to experts, this is the best time to flirt and perhaps leave with a new contact.

To let other people know who is also looking for a date, the first rules are to hold a key in your hand and place an upside-down pineapple in the shopping cart.

After that, just walk through the aisles with one eye on your shopping list and the other on the people. If you connect and there is an interesting exchange of glances, we recommend that you put your carts next to each other.

Several videos about the subject are circulating on social media. And some influencers have shared that they decided to try the method, while the news has also made headlines in Spanish newspapers and radio stations.

Spaniard Miguel CH. Gómez, 56, says everyone is talking about the “supermarket Tinder” story.

“Those of us who are single don’t miss any opportunities, but I still haven’t gone to the supermarket at that exact time,” says Gómez, who uses traditional dating apps.

“The worst thing is that today I went to the supermarket and bought a pineapple, but it was already peeled. I’ll have to pay more attention next time,” says Miguel, laughing.

Brazilian psychologist Fernanda Vannini, who has lived in Spain for 11 years, suggests the reason why this phenomenon has gone so viral: a revival of another way of flirting.

“Although this trend is funny, some people are tired of the liquid relationships of the virtual world. Therefore, many people are in a way taking advantage of this phenomenon to revive the way our grandparents flirted, with that first casual eye-to-eye encounter,” says the São Paulo native.

Several supermarkets have started to get in on the act, and users on social media can be found asking each establishment to disclose its “perfect match time”. Meanwhile, memes on the internet show what are supposedly the best times to flirt in each supermarket chain.

“The other day I ended up going to the supermarket at that time, but it was pure coincidence. I really wanted to buy a pineapple, but I was afraid and ended up not taking it because there were a lot of young people in that aisle. The worst thing is that I ended up not even taking a cart and carried the shopping in a bag to avoid embarrassment,” says Brazilian Jennyffer Moreira, 50 years old.

“I’m too old for that anymore. Since I’m married, I think I’ll even change the time I shop here or start buying online,” jokes the Espírito Santo native who has lived in Spain for 18 years.

FILMS AND POLITICIANS

The subject has gone so viral in Spain that several companies and even politicians are taking advantage of the opportunity to try to ride this wave.

The Spanish Television website for films and series (RTVEPLAY) has just opened a section of romantic films with the title If the supermarket doesn’t work. The options range from the classic “Eat, Pray, Love”, with Julia Roberts, to the film “Memories of Love”, with Colin Firth.

The PP, a right-wing party in Spain, also took advantage of the trend and created a montage on social media with a photo of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (from the PSOE, a left-wing party) in a supermarket. The text says that the leader is also in the supermarket at 7 pm with his pineapple upside down waiting for someone to approve his budgets.

The topic of the moment has caught on so much in Spain that even neighboring Portugal is taking advantage of the wave.

A supermarket company that operates in both Spain and Portugal posted a joke on its social media saying that people can meet in any supermarket, but that marriages only take place in theirs.

Furthermore, they advise that they replace all fruits, including pineapple, daily.

Another famous retail chain took the opportunity to respond by saying that marriage is one thing, but that the honeymoon has to be in its stores.

HOW DID THIS WAVE ARISE?

The idea of ​​a meeting point for singles in supermarkets spread after a joke by Spanish actress Vivy Lin, who posted a video on TikTok that already has more than one and a half million views.

She filmed the video with a friend in a supermarket asking other customers if they were in the store looking for a date as they checked what each person had put in their cart.

Some publications are even suggesting where each person should walk in the supermarket, depending on their age group: young people up to 25 years old can stay near the frozen products; adults up to 40 years old should spend more time in the fishmonger’s; and those over this age get better results by walking through the wine aisle.

“These Spaniards have to bring this idea to Brazil,” says Margarete Okopny from Santa Catarina, who lives in Florianópolis and saw a news story about the topic on social media.