While it’s not the first time an upside-down pineapple has been used as a code, traditionally used in swinging, this trend is a bit less R-rated. The Spanish craze began as a bit of a joke when actor Vivy Lin posted a video on TikTok of her pushing a trolley around a Mercadona store while talking about the theory that if you place a solitary upside-down pineapple and bottle of wine in your shopping trolley, it means you’re looking for love. Vivy Lin then asks her friend what the best time was to pick up a man at Mercadona, the Spanish supermarket chain. They turned to Google, and, to their surprise, Google came back with a very specific answer. “The time to hook up in Mercadona is 7 pm to 8 pm,” Lin says. Now single Spaniards have been flocking to Mercadona stores across Portugal between 7 pm - 8 pm, and even Mercadona is lapping up their new name as the place for love. On its official TikTok account, the supermarket posted a pineapple with the caption: “The pineapple on the shelf of Mercadona waiting for you to get a date.” Not everyone is loving the upside-down pineapple trend though, with reports that many Mercadona employees are often left to clear up unpurchased pineapples.

In Madrid, there have also been reports of groups of teenagers pushing trolleys around stores in the evening but not purchasing the pineapples.