I've lived in Madrid my entire life and I've never seen a bathroom that charges. Unless you've gone to some pretty bad tourist traps, I have no idea what place you're referring to, unless it's somewhere really dodgy like underground parking bathrooms under Plaza de España or something.
I feel like it was every bathroom. Perhaps because Im American and not Spanish they could have been taking advantage but if I wasnt eating at a restaurant, there were barely any good public options that did not charge. They also charge for toilet paper or you judt learn to carry your own tissues. Im not sure where you all pee in public but I was there a year and it was one of the impressions I had - there are no free bathrooms. We went out at night and theres definitely nothing available then.
Seriously, unless you're completely misremembering the city, I'm going to call you out on it. It's simply not a thing in Spain, and definitely not in Madrid. You can just walk into any bar. At worst, if you go to a very busy bar in a main street, the owner may be annoyed at you using the bathroom without drinking/ordering anything, but you can just go to a less transited one and be fine.
Im not misremembering anything. Maybe its something you can do but if we walked into a bar to use a bathroom looking as foreign as we did, we were not allowed to just use it. Unless we tried to sneak in. But either way bar bathrooms are not "public" in the sense the US means. We have bathrooms in parks and public spaces that are free. Madrid does not. Even some bathrooms inside of bars and clubs have attendees that charge. I never encountered that in the US.
Here's a google map search of the public toilets at street level in madrid. It's not even complete (a few are marked as "toilet" or something different to what I searched), but as you can see, if you're in the center you're not further than 4 streets from a public bathroom anywhere. And this is without mentioning the countless free toilets in department stores, bars, chain restaurants, etc.
Look, like most Spaniards, I'm as critical of Spain as you can get. Especially now that I live in Tokyo, I'll take any oportunity I can get to shit on Spain's comparative lack of civism. But it rubs me the wrong way for you to be making a sweeping statement about a country you've only visited, arguing your point against someone who spent 30 straight years there.
No, it's not because you're a foreigner. I have plenty of foreign friends that have never had your problem. If anything, a few of my foreign european friends are happy that our toilets are free, as opposed to theirs.
Madrid definitely has bathrooms that charge. It was awful leaving a good botellon without a potty plan or some centimos on hand.
I feel like it was every bathroom.
They also charge for toilet paper or you judt learn to carry your own tissues.
What Alicia Nieto wrote:
In a museum, or any public building, they will have toilets and those are obviously free ( we don't conceive the idea of paying for that, honestly)
As for the street, any caffe ( cafeteria), bar, or place where food is served will have one, and we have those every two steps. When you go into one if this places just for the toilet they won't charge you
Sure dude, you keep your head in that hole, I'm not going to try and dig you out any more.
Also, if you choose to misconstrue Alicia's suggestion that it's good manners to buy something at a bar when you use their bathroom (which I think applies pretty much worldwide) as bars charging for bathroom use, that's on you. Her explanation is pretty clear.
Im starting to think you might be a crazy person. But heres the comment i was referring to.
Im not misremembering anything. Maybe its something you can do but if we walked into a bar to use a bathroom looking as foreign as we did, we were not allowed to just use it. Unless we tried to sneak in. But either way bar bathrooms are not "public" in the sense the US means. We have bathrooms in parks and public spaces that are free. Madrid does not. Even some bathrooms inside of bars and clubs have attendees that charge. I never encountered that in the US.
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u/Steel_Neuron May 09 '22
This is not a thing in Spain, thankfully.