A year ago the so-called “glass of water law” came into force, forcing restaurants to offer their customers the possibility of consuming unpackaged water for free. We are not talking about a recommendation but a serious standard: the Official State Gazette included this standard in the Ley 7/2022, dated April 8. Bottom line: you can’t charge for tap water.
In general, this law is being complied with, but it is also giving rise to some misunderstandings in hospitality where there is confusion about what is tap water, what is filtered water, and what is natural mineral water. Sometimes customers are not clear why they are paying.
It is usually served in a jug or directly in a glass. It comes from surface water and from various sources (reservoirs, rivers, desalination plants) and receives a treatment, generally with chlorine, to disinfect it, protect it from contaminants and make it suitable for human consumption. Its composition is changing.
The taste of tap water can be more or less pleasant depending on the area of Spain in which we live, but this should not confuse us about its safety. We are lucky to live in a country where we have safe tap water.
It is usually served in a glass bottle with the restaurant’s name, unsealed and without a label. It is tap water that undergoes a domestic filtering process in the restaurant itself. In this process, its initial composition is altered and chlorine is eliminated, so the water is unprotected and it is more sensitive to contamination that may occur during packaging and serving to the consumer. For this reason it is essential to guarantee adequate hygienic conditions.