TOURISTS going on holiday to Spanish holiday hotspots are forking out for bottled water during meals out when they should be offered free tap water, a consumer group has warned.
According to Consubal, the consumer group for the Balearic Islands, 99 per cent of the bars and restaurants in Majorca, Ibiza and Menorca are not offering this service when, by law, they are supposed to.
Consubal president Alfonso Rodríguez has spoken out following a series of complaints made against bars and restaurants for flouting the rules.
He said the law was introduced state-wide nearly a year ago but was still little known.
The Law on Waste and Contaminated Soils for a Circular Economy, which came into force in April 2022, says catering establishments have to provide customers with free tap water.
The regulation says: "In order to reduce the consumption of single-use containers, public administrations will promote the consumption of drinking water in their offices and other public spaces, through the use of sources in conditions that guarantee hygiene and food safety or the use of reusable containers, among others, without prejudice to the fact that marketing in single-use containers is allowed in health centres.
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"For the same purpose, in establishments in the hotel and restaurant sector, consumers, clients or users of their services must always be offered the possibility of consuming unpackaged water free of charge and complementary to the offer of the same establishment."
Mr. Rodríguez said the consumer group was receiving complaints from people who asked catering establishments for free water during meals but were being refused.
"He pointed out that bars and restaurants should be providing it without being asked and regretted that many people did not realise this.
"Instead, many were being given bottled water and charged for it.
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"The problem is that customers always ask for water and do not specify if they want it from the tap, so restaurateurs take the opportunity to give them bottled water directly, which has a cost.
"However, by law they are obliged to offer the tap water."
Tap water is safe to drink in Spain, as well as other holiday hotspots such as Portugal and Italy.
However, you should avoid drinking it in your hotel room, according to new research.
And a woman sparked fierce debate online after she revealed why she never drank the tap water from the hotel bathroom.
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