LThe Alicante-Terminal train station has hosted this Tuesday the opening of the first premium public toilets in the Valencia Community aimed at travellers. The act has been officially inaugurated with the traditional ribbon cutting, conducted by Paula Abarca, manager of the Tim Hortons cafeteria, located in the station and One Hundred’s first local partner. The opening was attended by Niels Bakker, general manager of One Hundred Spain, the Dutch management team, and those responsible for the different stores in the station. Since 2021, the company has already had facilities in Madrid Puerta de Atocha (the first in Spain) and in Barcelona Sants, and since January 2022 in Madrid Chamartín Clara Campoamor.
The cost to use the service is one euro and the amount can be recovered as a discount at Tim Hortons and soon at other shops in the same station. “We are excited to introduce this new public restroom concept focused on taking care of the health and well-being of travelers. The combination of hygiene, technology, design and permanent attention make the break to go to the bathroom a unique experience”, he explains. Niels Bakker, CEO of One Hundred Spain. For its part, Adif Alta Velocidad states that the new toilets are intended to improve the quality of service to users. The new toilets are located on the ground floor of the station, next to the Cercanías entrance, and have an area of 80 m2.
In addition to toilets for women and men -all of them equipped with tcutting edge technology contactless in favor of hygiene- the space has a family room, with toilet for adult, for child and changing table for baby; a nursery room with microwave, changing table and a chair for mom and baby with a curtain to create a comfortable environment for breastfeeding; dresser; Y steam experience, located just after the entrance, which helps maintain relative humidity levels in the space between 40% and 60% quickly removing viruses of the environment. The facilities also have motivational mirrors with real-time information about the weather, hygiene tips, etc., and a room for people with disabilities.
This opening is part of the ten that the sanitary company is launching between 2021 and 2022 in Spain, after having won the Adif Alta Velocidad tender to install toilets in five of its main train stations: Madrid Puerta de Atocha, Barcelona Sants, Madrid Chamartín Clara Campoamor, Alacant-Terminal and Zaragoza Delicias. In the coming months, the inauguration of the latest facilities is expected, in Zaragoza Delicias.
The objective is change the concept of “bathroom break” in crowded places such as train stations, gas stations and shopping malls. Aims to turn it into a wellness experience, a moment that is sometimes stressful due to lack of hygienic conditions adequate. The company intends that each visit to the bathroom provides a few minutes of well-being to the client.
76% of Spaniards refuse to enter public toilets in bars, train stations, or airports due to lack of hygiene, according to a survey by the Sondea Institute. Market conditions and user expectations are changing rapidly, especially as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has increased awareness of the health risks associated with hygiene in public spaces.
One Hundred Restrooms is a company of Dutch origin that landed for the first time in Spain in 2018, with the opening of its first facilities in the La Vaguada Madrid shopping center. It currently has a presence in Belgium (Brussels, Antwerp and Saint Nicholas), Sweden (Stockholm) and the Netherlands, where it has already opened 7 of the 28 hubs planned for 2021-2022 at TotalEnergies gas station service stations.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.