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"EU" is too broad of a term to describe cultural/social/political norms such as public toilets. There are places in the EU with fairly decent toilets, and other

"EU" is too broad of a term to describe cultural/social/political norms such as public toilets. There are places in the EU with fairly decent toilets, and others with almost none. In some you have to pay in many public toilets, in others they are free. The best bet in most places are public buildings such as libraries. And very often cafes etc allow you use a toilet, esp if you have health reasons and ask them nicely, though ymmv. The biggest issue as others said is vandalism, so in (richer) countries where public toilets are cleaned more often the toilets are much better.

B1FF_PSUVM 1mo ago
Cafes/restaurants are required by law to provide toilets to customers, afaik
- ericmay 1mo ago
  Is the keyword customers though? In other words you’ve got to spend money to use the toilet? In America I can walk in to a restaurant, even a nicer one and ask to use the bathroom and very likely would be shown strait to it. It’s not 100% of the time everywhere, especially places like Times Square, but I’d say that the norm is no spend required.
  - ajmurmann 1mo ago
    Huh. I encounter "customers only" signs quite frequently in the US, as well as bathrooms that require codes or keys.
    - ericmay 1mo ago
      They’re not uncommon but in my experience you tend to find them more in tourist areas with high foot traffic or if there are a lot of homeless people or something along those lines.
      - JeremyNT 1mo ago
        And even where the signs and procedures exist, often the rules are not enforced... at least, not against people who appear to plausibly be customers. If you're a well groomed adult and walk up to the counter at a coffee shop and ask for the code, they'll usually just give it to you no questions asked. The selective enforcement is the point, because they use these policies to keep away the "types" of people they don't want in the businesses (i.e. unhoused people, teens, etc).
  - embedding-shape 1mo ago
    > but I’d say that the norm is no spend required. Obviously can't speak for the entire country of Spain, but that tends to be true here too. The more touristic places, especially closer to the beaches, tend to have "Toilets for customers only" signs though, which is kind of understandable as people start using them as changing rooms otherwise, and get overrun with tourists not really caring about how they leave things.
    - freehorse 1mo ago
      This is my impression also, there is usually explicit "only customers" where there are genuine problems (overtouristic etc) or where the boss is just weird (even though you may be still told off even without a only-customers sign in some cases). I would say most of the time, under normal circumstances, there is no issue. Even then, I cannot imagine somebody saying no when telling them "I have a health issue and need to use a toilet", in most cases.
gattilorenz 1mo ago
> "EU" is too broad of a term to describe cultural/social/political norms such as public toilets This calls for Slavoj Žižek's reflections on toilets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzXPyCY7jbs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzXPyCY7jbs Although he's of course not talking about the room, but about the fixture.

B1FF_PSUVM 1mo ago

Cafes/restaurants are required by law to provide toilets to customers, afaik

ericmay 1mo ago
Is the keyword customers though? In other words you’ve got to spend money to use the toilet? In America I can walk in to a restaurant, even a nicer one and ask to use the bathroom and very likely would be shown strait to it. It’s not 100% of the time everywhere, especially places like Times Square, but I’d say that the norm is no spend required.
- ajmurmann 1mo ago
  Huh. I encounter "customers only" signs quite frequently in the US, as well as bathrooms that require codes or keys.
  - ericmay 1mo ago
    They’re not uncommon but in my experience you tend to find them more in tourist areas with high foot traffic or if there are a lot of homeless people or something along those lines.
    - JeremyNT 1mo ago
      And even where the signs and procedures exist, often the rules are not enforced... at least, not against people who appear to plausibly be customers. If you're a well groomed adult and walk up to the counter at a coffee shop and ask for the code, they'll usually just give it to you no questions asked. The selective enforcement is the point, because they use these policies to keep away the "types" of people they don't want in the businesses (i.e. unhoused people, teens, etc).
- embedding-shape 1mo ago
  > but I’d say that the norm is no spend required. Obviously can't speak for the entire country of Spain, but that tends to be true here too. The more touristic places, especially closer to the beaches, tend to have "Toilets for customers only" signs though, which is kind of understandable as people start using them as changing rooms otherwise, and get overrun with tourists not really caring about how they leave things.
  - freehorse 1mo ago
    This is my impression also, there is usually explicit "only customers" where there are genuine problems (overtouristic etc) or where the boss is just weird (even though you may be still told off even without a only-customers sign in some cases). I would say most of the time, under normal circumstances, there is no issue. Even then, I cannot imagine somebody saying no when telling them "I have a health issue and need to use a toilet", in most cases.

gattilorenz 1mo ago

> "EU" is too broad of a term to describe cultural/social/political norms such as public toilets This calls for Slavoj Žižek's reflections on toilets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzXPyCY7jbs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzXPyCY7jbs Although he's of course not talking about the room, but about the fixture.