Spanish singletons are piling into supermarkets after work in the hope of finding love as a bizarre new trend of flirting via shopping trollies has emerged.

Spaniards are officially over dating apps, having ditched virtual swipes for an in-person love game that has people deciphering cryptic messages based on which items are packed in admirer’s trollies.

The confessions of attraction have had many flocking to Mercadona, a popular Spanish supermarket, in hopes of finding ‘amor’. 

The supermarket craze lays out specific signals for young people looking for love which indicate what you’re looking for and who you’re interested in.

As more and more singletons adopt the trend, it has been dubbed ‘Tinder-dona’ to combine the name of the Spanish supermarket giant and one of the many dating apps which single people have abandoned in favour of nipping down to the fish counter. 

Are you ready for ‘flirting hour’ at the supermarket? Spanish singletons have invented a new game where they head to Mercadona to look for love

The trend first emerged on the app when TV personality, Vivy Lin, shared a video where she voiced the theory that lusting singles come to the supermarket for more than shopping and that many are using it as a real life dating app.

In the video, Vivy is shopping in the chain store with a friend, who asked what the ‘best time to flirt in Mercadona is’, assuring the TV presenter that ‘there is a specific time’.

‘I’m completely astonished,’ she confessed in the clip.

The two pals happened to be in the chain shop at 7:05pm, quickly realising that they had arrived at the optimal flirting time after a quick Google search. 

She even said to a passerby, ‘Did you know there was a flirting time in Mercadona?’ to which she heard a surprised, ‘really?’

Young people in Spain are swapping phones for trollies as they ditch dating apps for the new ‘supermarket Tinder ‘ style of searching for love

Pineapples, which feature heavily in videos of the trend, are said to mean individuals are open to conversation

The claim of a ‘flirting hour’ was further supported by a participant on the dating show First Dates, who revealed that she used to frequent the supermarket during the same evening hours when she was single. 

Since the video was first shared, hundreds of Spanish people have flocked to Mercadona to hunt for mates.

A number of rules have even been invented so that young people can send signals to one another without having to speak.

Firstly, hopeful singles who wanted to play the supermarket ‘game’, must ensure they arrive between 7-8pm.

For those eying up singles for a ‘casual fling’, sweets and chocolate indicate an openness to a short term love affair.

The trend first emerged on the app when TV personality, Vivy Lin, (pictured left with friends) shared a video where she voiced the theory that singletons come to the supermarket for more than shopping and that many are using it as a real life dating app

Legumes and vegetables indicate a hunt for something more serious or long term

Young people gather in supermarkets for the love game which is thought to be singletons’ shunning of dating apps

Pineapples are common indicators that an individual might be open to conversation, especially if they are placed upside down in the trolley

Hopeful singles who wanted to play the supermarket ‘game’, must ensure they arrive between 7-8pm

The tropical fruits must be placed upside down in single’s trollies to indicate willingness to chat with others 

A group of young people gather with trollies one evening while shopping in the Spanish chain supermarket, Mercadona

For the singletons who are ready for commitment, legumes and vegetables indicate a hunt for something more serious or long term.

Pineapples, which feature heavily in videos of the trend, are said to mean individuals are open to conversation. The tropical fruits must be placed upside down in singletons’ trollies to indicate willingness to chat.

While bumping someone’s trolley is usually a great annoyance during usual shopping hours, for those strolling to aisles of Mercadona at 7pm, it could be a strong indication that you’ve found an admirer. 

And the trend has sparked curiosity outside the trolley grates of Mercadona with some singletons having expanded to department store El Corte Inglés, where those heading to the perfume aisle between 2-3pm might to find someone else with a refined palette. 

Millenials and Gen Z, who find dinner dates ‘boring’ are instead finding alternative ways to meet romantic interests, in fact the trend is so popular that Tinder – the biggest dating app in the world – are launching running clubs for singletons to meet up

Responding to the growing popularity of activity-based dating and with ‘running’ trending as one of the top Tinder profile tagged Interests, singles across the UK’s capital will be able to get feet and hearts racing at one of Tinder and Runna’s SoleMates sessions

There are around 1,600 Mercadona shops across Spain, and it seems many are now the place where people look for love.

Young people trolley-bumping their way into relationships isn’t the first time Gen Z have taken a unconventional path to love.

Earlier this summer, Gen Z began their exodus of ‘boring’ dates such as dinning, pubbing, or clubbing, instead preferring an afternoon spent in a pair of Lycra biking shorts.

Young people admitted they would rather got for a job with potential mate than a run-of-the-mill pasta and Pinot noir date.

Conventional dating has quite literally had the tablecloth ripped from beneath it. 

The trend became so popular that Tinder – the biggest dating app in the world – launched a number running clubs across London for singletons to meet up.

In response to Gen Z’s growing discontent with the apps, Tinder joined forced with Runna to launch SoleMates Run Clubs, which offered a series of free runs in London throughout June and July.

The running clubs were led by Runna kept and kept at a a casual, chatty pace to promote conversation amongst run goers, before being invited to a social afterwards.

London was the first city to be promoted in the app via a ‘Swipe Card’ taking users directly to the booking facility.

Runners joining in on the club were paired with like-minded runners with a similar athletic ability to ensure a good chance to chat as they run and explore personalities as well as pace. 

The dating app launched the running club as part of a response to young peoples changing dating habits, with more disillusioned Gen Z binning off the apps for being ‘toxic’.

A study by Pew Research Center found that 46 percent of online daters said they’ve used the app, which is down more than a third from Tinder’s annual download peak in 2014. 

Match Group, the company that owns Tinder, has reported that paying users fell by 8 percent last year, or just under 10million people. 

The app, which was first launched in 2012, has had a decrease in downloads compared to other popular apps like Bumble, Hinge, Grindr and OkCupid, which have seen more than twice the number of downloads in 2023. 

Another study from the Survey Center on American Life reported more Gen Z’ers have had better luck forming relationships with people that they meet offline. 

Running clubs and trolley bashing are likely the first of many trajectories modern dating will take as young people spurn traditional courting.