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Free tap water must now be offered in restaurants in Spain
The initiative aims to cut down on single-use water bottles in Spain
Customers of bars and restaurants in Spain can wave goodbye to forking out for expensive bottled water as from Sunday April 10, 2022, the hospitality industry is obliged to offer patrons free tap water. The new regulation has come about thanks to the Law on Waste and Contaminated Soil for a Circular Economy, which aims to reduce the number of single-use bottles sold in Spain.
Likewise, shops and supermarkets will have to encourage bulk purchases of water while local authorities will be tasked with providing ample drinking fountains and reusable containers.
Along the same thread, retailers with a space in excess of 400 square metres are obliged from January 1 next year to dedicate at least 20% of their stores to products without packaging, bulk-buy items and those with reusable containers. In addition, they must accept reusable bags, Tupperware and bottles from customers, once they are clean.
You might also like: Bread, ice, water: what can Spanish restaurants charge extra for?
In addition to the regulations on water, local governments will now have to provide separate bins for paper, metals, plastics, glass and bio-waste at a minimum by June 30 2022 in municipalities with more than 5,000 inhabitants and before December 31 next year for areas with larger populations.
They must also guarantee separate collection of textile waste, used cooking oil and hazardous household waste before December 31 2024.
In short, by 2035, the percentage of municipal waste collected separately in Spain must be “at least” 50% of the total waste generated by communities.
Although the bulk of the new rules were approved after they were published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on Saturday April 9, two new taxes which will eventually be applied on the production of single-use plastics and the use of landfills, have been postponed until January 1 of next year.
Also of interest: Cities with the best tap water in Spain
Image: Archive
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