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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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LIFE IN SPAIN

Which areas in Spain have the best tap water?

Tap water is generally safe to drink in most areas of Spain, but that doesn’t always mean that it tastes good everywhere. Find out which areas have the best tasting tap water and which have the worst.

Published: 23 March 2023 16:06 CET
Which areas in Spain have the best tap water?

When they first arrive in Spain, many people are unsure if the tap water is safe to drink or not, but according to the Spanish Ministry of Health, at least 99.5 percent of Spain’s water supply is safe to drink.

Spain’s Organisation of Consumers and Users (OCU) also confirms that tap water in Spain is generally good quality and is a good alternative to bottled water. Of course, it’s cheaper than bottled water too.

READ ALSO: Why does tap water taste strange in some parts of Spain?

Despite this claim, there are several areas in Spain that don’t have good-tasting tap water, leading to the necessity for filters or even buying bottled water instead.

The OCU, who carried out a comparative analysis of the taste of the tap water around Spain, has revealed that the taste of the water is directly related to how hard or soft the water is. In other words, the harder the water, the worst it tastes.

The hardness of the water is caused by the amount of minerals in the water like lime and magnesium salts. “In areas of Spain where the water is hard, it tends to have a bad taste. In these areas it is common to use natural mineral water as table water,” the OCU said.  

How hard or soft your tap water is can also affect the way your clothes are washed or even your hair. If you live somewhere with soft water, you’ll see more bubbles created from the detergent you put in your washing machine. Your clothes will also stay bright for longer and form fewer bobbles. If you live somewhere with hard water, the opposite can be true. You’ll also need more shampoo for it to create a lather on your hair.  

The OCU study found that the softest, and therefore the best tasting tap water, can be found in the areas of Galicia and in Castilla y León, specifically the cities of Burgos, León and Valladolid, as well as in Madrid.

Both Extremadura, the Basque Country and the Canary Islands also have soft tap water. And in the Valencia region, it’s Alicante where the softest water is found.

On the other end of the scale, the hardest water and the worst tasting can be found in Almería in Andalusia, Valencia city and in the Aragonese provinces of Zaragoza and Teruel.

Only slightly better, but still pretty hard and with a disagreeable taste are the provinces of Murcia, Albacete, Jaén, the Balearic Islands and Tarragona, areas across Murcia, Castilla-La Mancha and Catalonia.  

And finally, the areas with only slightly hard water are Asturias, Navarre and La Rioja; Barcelona and Girona in Catalonia; Cádiz, Seville and Granada in Andalusia; and Ciudad Real in Castilla-La Mancha.

Of course, the taste of the tap water is not down to the hardness or softness alone. It could be due to the number of chemicals added such as chlorine, the type of filtration process and where the water comes from in the first place, whether rivers or reservoirs and the type of water they have too. 

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