Singles, put a pineapple in your shopping cart! Flirting the Spanish way

Nowadays, it may seem hard to find a life partner, but with some creativity, there are more methods every day. Besides apps like Tinder and Bumble, or social media like Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok, you can also still find love in real life! This is how the Spanish do it while shopping their daily groceries.

Encouraged by savvy marketing people at the supermarket chain Mercadona, Spain has taken up the trend of turning the supermarket into a dating site.

According to the national paper El Economista, the trend of supermarket flirting dates back to 2017, when the Spanish TV show 'First Dates' featured a participant who shared their technique for flirting while grocery shopping.

Picture: First Dates / Mediaset España

According to El Economista, this strategy was called the 'Mercadona Trick', named after the supermarket where it began. The trend began to grow in 2020.

In the summer of 2024, some TikTok and Instagram users began posting their own experiences with flirting in the supermarket.

If we are to believe social media, single Spaniards go en masse to the supermarket for their shopping chores between 7 and 8 p.m. They choose that hour because it's the allotted time to look for a partner.

But how do you know who in the store is on the dating market and who just happens to be shopping unsuspectedly at that same time? Well, as users of social networks point out, you should get a pineapple from the produce aisle and put it upside down in the front of your cart.

The next step is to go to the wine aisle of the supermarket. There, you will probably see other people with a pineapple. If someone suits you, you can bump your cart into theirs and see what happens!

Don't arrive late, because social media users and supermarket staff reported in the summer of 2024 that pineapples are usually sold out every day during flirting time.

According to the Spanish media outlet RFI, a Mercadona employee said: "It's surreal, but every day more people come at that time and we've already seen people exchanging phone numbers."

The clientele of Mercadona ranges from neighbors to tourists who come to the supermarket at established hours to see the viral phenomenon of Merca Match for themselves. One of the singles told RFI: "It's better than Tinder because here you can get to know the other person better. You already know a lot by looking at the products they carry in their carts."

The technique of Merca Match has become a trend where hundreds of singles and onlookers crowd the produce and wine sections, sometimes racing to get the last pineapple in the store.

Photo: Alvarodelinaresoficial / Instagram

The commotion was big enough that other supermarkets joined the new way of flirting. The French supermarket 'Carrefour', for example, published its own supermarket flirting strategy on X.

According to Infobae, other supermarkets set other schedules and meeting zones, so that singles can shop around all day and try different stores.

Carrefour's flirting code consists of sweets for those who are sweet, potatoes for fun people, vegetables for those who are looking for something serious, and pizzas for those who are looking for something fleeting.

So, if you want to get serious about dating in the new year, the fish section of 'Dia' is the meeting point from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., while 'Aldi' has a special hour from 12:30 to 13:30, and 'Eroski' between 18:00 and 19:00 - the same time as 'Lidl' where you need to put a watermelon in your cart. Then, at 'Alcampo' from 20:00 to 21:00 hours, cheese is the protagonist. That is, if you haven't found someone already in Mercadona with your pineapple.

Spanish TV station Telecinco says it could get crowded at 'flirting hour'. A supermarket guard saw himself forced to call the police when he was faced with an avalanche of people and the impossibility of controlling the situation.

In a Mercadona in Bilbao, the large influx of young people and adolescents caused the local police to manage the entrance to the supermarket.

Time will tell! What we do know is that when it's seven o'clock, we know where to go for love opportunities.

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