Here’s How Spanish Singles Are Finding Dates at the Grocery Store

Are you sick of swiping? Tired of the setups? And absolutely over having to run a 5k to meet your next date? Then, just head to the grocery store in Spain. 

Over the last few months, singles have taken to the aisles of Mercadona, a massive supermarket chain with more than 1,600 locations across the country, from 7 to 8 p.m. each night to see if they can find their perfect match. But they aren’t just going in there without a plan. Instead, they have to decide if they are team pineapple or team lentil. 

As TikToker Ana Gildersleeve explained in a recent post, “The pineapple is changing the dating game in Spain.” Gildersleeve said that singles are heading to the market in droves, trying to “find love or whatever they want — we don’t judge here.” 

At Mercadona locations all over Spain, single people who are looking for a date simply need to grab a pineapple and put it upside down in the shopping cart. (Which, yes, we are aware also has a double meaning and is often associated with swingers, and hey, good for pineapples for being so open to all kinds of relationships.)

“Once you have the pineapple, you head to the wine selection … if you find someone that you like and they also have the pineapple upside down, you have to crash your shopping cart [into theirs,]” she added. 

Looking for long-term love? Instead of a pineapple, you have to grab a bag of lentils because “lentils last forever in your pantry.” 

Want a one-night kind of thing? “People buy lettuce because it goes bad quickly,” Gildersleeve shared. So if you’re in Spain right now, whether it’s traveling for a couple of days, studying abroad, or you simply live there and you wanna find love, head to Barcelona from 7 to 8 and see what happens.” 

According to Thrillist, the trend likely began thanks to Spanish actor Vivy Lin, who posted a TikTok suggesting singles meet and find love in the market during these hours. Now, when you search the #mercadona tag on the platform, you’ll find thousands of singles doing exactly that. 

However, as the BBC reported, almost too many people are showing up to try the trend (which really is a true commentary on the dating scene in 2024), with police being called to one location to calm the crowds. It’s become such a success that other markets are trying to get in on the trend too. Thrillist reported that Lidl is hosting its own “La Hora del Amor” campaign in Spain, inviting singles to come to its stores — swapping the pineapple for a watermelon — to find love instead. So maybe it’s high time for Stop & Shop to host its own dating event, too. Just maybe with a more seasonally appropriate fruit for a U.S. audience hungry for love.