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LIFE IN SPAIN

The Spanish cleaning products that British households love

The British love Spain for its great weather, beautiful beaches, vibrant culture and fantastic cuisine, but now they have fallen in love with its cleaning products too.

Published: 1 February 2023 15:37 CET
The Spanish cleaning products that British households love
The Spanish cleaning products loved by Brits. Photo: Mizianitka / Pixabay

From detergents and air fresheners to window cleaners and floor cleaners, Spanish brands have found a unique niche in the UK.  

The realisation began when a Spanish resident of the United Kingdom  – @La_exquis tweeted her surprise at discovering the British obsession with Spanish cleaning products and it went viral.  

The thread included pictures of adverts for Spanish cleaning products in the UK, gift baskets of Spanish cleaning products and websites dedicated to selling only cleaning fluids from Brit’s favourite holiday destination.  

Many of the outlets selling the brands said that UK customers loved the scents of the Spanish cleaning brands and one even claimed that it “transports you back to a sunny villa in Spain”.

Brands such as Nenuco, Asevi and 3 Brujas were found to be some of the best-loved products in the UK, but the craze didn’t just stretch to cleaning labels. Many body care companies such as Heno de Pravia and Don Algodón had also found a fan base among the Brits. 

A quick search on Google comes up with a multitude of British pages dedicated to the sale of Spanish fabric softeners, floor cleaners, window cleaners and air fresheners, such as The Little Spanish Cleaning Company and Spanish Cleaning Products UK. Some products can even be found on the Amazon UK site.  

But they are not only sold through web pages, Instagram is also pushing these items with many people buying directly from accounts. 

“The products are obviously expensive due to Brexit” the user commented on Twitter.  

In fact, when making a comparison between the prices of these items, the difference is astonishing.  

Nenuco cologne, one of the most successful products in the UK, costs more than triple the price of a 600ml bottle sold in Spain.

In Spain, it costs just €2.65 while in the UK the same bottle is €11.21, but fans still seem willing to pay for a little slice of Spanish zing.

“It smells exactly like vacations in Spain when I was little,” wrote a user in one of the product reviews, summing up one of the reasons for the products’ success in Blighty. 

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CLIMATE CRISIS

‘Mutant cockroaches’: Why Spain’s rising temperatures make them multiply

Experts in Spain are warning that rising temperatures are causing genetic mutations in cockroach populations that lengthen their breeding seasons and make them more resistant to traditional pesticides.

Published: 16 April 2024 11:04 CEST
'Mutant cockroaches': Why Spain's rising temperatures make them multiply

They’re a part of Spanish summers that everyone dreads. No, not the blistering heat or beaches and beauty spots teeming with tourists, but the cockroaches coming out of hibernation.

If you haven’t lived in a warm climate before, this can come as a bit of a shock. This is especially true if you come across some of the huge, brown cockroaches scurrying across the street or, even worse, in your house.

But now climate and pest control experts warn that climate change could make the problem even worse by causing a genetic mutation and creating what the Spanish press have dubbed ‘mutant cockroaches’ (cucarachas mutantes) that are growing immune to traditional pesticides.

READ ALSO: What to do about insects and other pests in your home in Spain?

The mutation, experts fear, combined with longer breeding seasons and increased birth rates, could pose a public health risk.

Rising temperatures are causing the ‘blond’ or Germanic cockroach (blattella germanica) to genetically mutate.

“Their metabolic cycle is accelerated” by the heat and they are increasingly immune to insecticides, Jorge Galván, director general of the National Association of Environmental Health Companies (Anecpla), told Spanish news outlet 20minutos.

Climate change has changed Spain from “subtropical to a tropical climate,” Galván says.

“The warm seasons are getting longer and the cold ones are getting hotter.” This in turn means that cockroaches appear “a couple of months earlier” and stay out later into the year than they previously would.

This means a longer breeding season, and therefore a larger number of cockroaches.

The effects of these high temperatures combined with longer breeding seasons substantially increases “the probability of a genetic alteration.” Already, pest control experts have seen that cockroaches are becoming immune to traditional pesticides and can ingest chemicals previously used to kill them, something that will, Galván fears, contribute to problems not only of pest control “but of public health.”

READ ALSO: What venomous species are there in Spain?

Carlos Pradera, technical manager of the pest control company Anticimex, explained that “the more we treat them, the more they withstand the pressure.”

For this reason, Pradera says, experts are investigating other “preventive measures” to try and combat the genetic changes, looking at other “other methodologies based on traps and vacuums.”

Cockroaches are becoming increasingly common in homes and bars and restaurants in Spain, experts warn. Anticimex carried out almost 40 percent more pest control incidents in 2023 than the previous year, a record, according to data provided to EL PERIÓDICO.

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