Where is the public restroom in Madrid? Look at the map.

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At least in Madrid there are not many public restrooms. I remember they installed some many years ago, but I don't know if they continue working. Anyway, they were very few.. There are, of course, restrooms at the stations, airports, etc. Not in the Subway, and yes in the medium-long distance trains.

is right that there are limited restrooms outside of restaurants, bars, etc. You most likely will NOT find any restroom inside of the Metro stations but can do so on trains with longer distances to travel. I believe it is Spanish law that all restaurants/bars are required to allow you to use the restroom and ask for a glass of water (free) without paying for it. HOWEVER, it's not something people look favorably upon and don't expect a warm greeting when you ask to do so. Perhaps just order a quick tapa/coffee/etc., and pop into the loo to take care of business and be off. It's not that uncommon to do so.

Yes, that's what we, most Spaniards, do. Ask for a coffee in a bar and use their restrooms. Of course you can use it even if you don't take anything but it is true it is not "polite" and they don't like it. Mc Donald's, Burger King and some other fast food restaurants requiere a password to enter restrooms and you can only get if you buy something.

I have frequently used the McDonald's off Puerta del Sol (kind of opposite La Mallorquina on Calle Mayor) never using a password. In fact, that was the place I was going to recommend. I guess I feel I keep Micky D's in business in both sides of the Pond so I have no guilt using their facilities. Oh, sure, I always buy something...but never a password.

Where is the public restroom in Paris? Look at the map.

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There are indeed public toilets in SOME Metro/RER stations...but even knowing which stations may still not be enough, when trying to actually locate them within the stations. A 'specialty' web site you might want to browse through is BATHROOM DIARIES, whaich has perhaps more information on public toilets than anyone really needs to know, nevertheless, you can Copy & Paste, create and print-out your own Paris Public Toilets list to carry with you-- http://www.thebathroomdiaries.com/

Why do you want to go to the toilets in a metro station??? There are a lot of free public toilets at street level, far better! They are all free since 2006; here is a map of free public toilets per arrondissement: http://www.paris.pause-pipi.fr/

I had this same question a few days ago and got some great answers. Bought for $3.00 online the recommende3d Paris-Pause e-book listing the street toilets. Thanks! Having lived in SF for 10 years they also have the (pay) toilets and I can't remember how exaactly they work but they are great. Upon leaving them the door shuts and everything retracts back into the wall and is hosed down, sanitized and blown dry. There was a 15 minute time limit though and then the door will (or used to) pop open so don't dawdle. Also you were not able to have more than 1 person in there at a time since the floors had sensors and the door would not shut if more than one person was present (to prevent drug deals, sex, etc.) How great is that, Paris has made them free. In SF they handed out token for homeless people to use them. Everybody else I think they were a quarter.

I was in Paris last October. I went into Cafes, Bistos etc to use the bathrooms. I always picked really busy places with tons of people outside and went inside and asked in a very polite manner where the toilet was. No one ever refused me. No problems. My husband has to use the bathroom every 10 mins seems to me. Anyway,everyone of those street sanisettes were "out of order" except one, at least where we went! The idea of spraying down urine (and other things)so it can go everywhere really is too much for me to take. I went to the bathroom at Gare St. Lazare and it was a real eye opener for me. Boy, now I do appreciate finding a semi decent washroom. Men are so lucky!! Try holding up the bottoms of your pants so they don't get soaked, while doing a balancing act so not to touch anything. Just be polite and hit the busy outdoor cafes.

Where is the public toilet in London?

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I just found this little bit of useful advice and am passing it along. Mike S. It's Good to Know: How to Find a Public Restroom in London You're sightseeing in an unfamiliar city, you feel nature's call... and there is no restroom in sight. Travelers in London, at least, can rest easy. The Westminster City Council, which governs the part of the city with such popular tourist attractions as Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, has launched a mobile phone text message service. Texting the word "toilet" to the number 80097 yields directions to the nearest public convenience. (Source: Reuters)

Interesting. For those without a mobile phone... we'll pop into a pub when the need arises. They're pretty much everywhere in London. We'll use the loo, then order a refreshing beverage and take a short break to rest the feet. It's a nice break. Large department stores also have public toilets, as do some of the larger tube stations (but these usually aren't free.) And McDonald's works in a pinch, too (we do this when traveling in the US, too.) And we always make it a point to use the loo before we leave a tourist attraction (they always have facilities.)

What I would add is not to presume that there will be a public restroom when in a shop. I used to work in a large chain bookstore in central London and was constantly asked by overseas visitors where the restroom was. People generally seemed shocked that there wasn't one! It's certainly not as common to find public toilets in London as it is in other parts of the world.

The washrooms on the Kensington Gore side of Hyde Park are open until about 2000 during the spring and summer months, and until 1800 at other times of the year. There are City of Westminster washrooms near Liberty (behind Oxford Circus), around the corner from the Transport Museum in Covent Garden, under a traffic island in the Strand across from the Royal Courts of Justice and one in the City on Bishopsgate across from Liverpool Street station. The latter closes at 1500 every day, though, which surprised me a bit, but thanks to the attendant for her patience earlier this week! There are fabbo facilities at Piccadilly Circus station, seriously well maintained. The Caffe Nero on High Street Ken used to have the smallest Womens' WC in London, but they've remodelled the thing. The smallest (and least accessible - doors that can't open completely because the space is too small) award goes to Costa Coffee on Argyll Street. Boo, hiss.

Today is World Toilet Day!

Congratulations, gentlemen! November 19, 2002 progressive world public for the first time celebrated World Toilet Day (World Toilet Day) - one of the most original and, by tradition, happy holidays. On 19 November was declared World Toilet Day in 2001, held in Singapore during an international conference on the problems of toilets. The result was a World Toilet Organization (English World Toilet Organization (WTO)). The World Toilet Organization is composed of 19 toilet associations. Russian toilet association is a member of the WTO since 2001 At the first meeting of the World Toilet Organization in 2001 were declared goals and objectives of the WTO: the creation of an international body to promote and coordinate sanitation issues; constant stimulation of the consumer, to show interest in a comfortable, pleasant to him toilets; pooling of resources and the promotion of the development of research, culture, consumer aesthetics and functionality designed to improve health in general; maintaining aspirations new standards toilets in both developed and developing countries; promotion of community toilet associations, relevant organizations and interested individuals in order to facilitate the exchange of ideas, culture and health issues; compilation, publication and dissemination of timely updates on the world. Each year, the WTO holds summits and exhibitions (English World Toilet Summit and Expo). WTO summits and symposiums: World Toilet Summit 2001 (Singapore) World Toilet Summit 2002 (Seoul, Korea) International Symposium on toilet infrastructure and the water cycle World Toilet Summit 2003 (Taipei, Taiwan) World Toilet Summit 2004 (Beijing, China) World Toilet Summit 2005 (Belfast, Northern Ireland) World Toilet Summit 2006 (Moscow, Russia) World Toilet Summit 2007 (New Delhi, India) World Toilet Summit 2008 (Macau, China) World Toilet Summit 2009 (Singapore) World Toilet Summit 2010 (Philadelphia, USA) World Toilet Summit 2011 (Hainan, China)

Public toilet map

Service Description If you are looking for public toilet facilities across Australia, you can search the national public toilet map that shows the location of more then 14,000 public toilets. You can also use this map to browse toilet facilities, find toilets in your area and use the trip planner to identify toilet stops for your journey. If you are one of the many people affected by incontinence, the toilet map can improve your independence and quality of life by providing: the location of the nearest public toilet details of opening hours, accessibility, parking and other features the capacity to plan toilet breaks for short or long journeys the ability to save toilet information and trip plans access anytime using a mobile phone The toilet map is also convenient for people with young families and those holidaying or travelling to new locations.

How do I use this service?

browse the map in a particular State/Territory search for toilets by postcode, town or suburb, near a specific address or location such as a sports ground plan a trip with the Trip Planner and enter your starting and end address to get a turn by turn description for the quickest route and the toilets along the way.

DOHA tenders for Toilet Map back-end

The Department of Health and Ageing (DOHA) is looking for a new hosting and geospatial data management provider for its nationwide public Toilet Map service, designed to help users find the closest public restroom. Toilet (Toilet Door image by Stan Wiechers, CC BY-SA 2.0) DOHA is looking for a supplier to host, maintain, update and support the Toilet Map and Bladder Bowel websites, which include collecting new geospatial data on public toilets around the country and logging it into both the interactive website and the mobile application.

"The National Public Toilet Map Website identifies the location of many publicly accessible toilet facilities in Australian urban and rural areas, and along major travel routes. "Useful information is provided about each toilet, such as opening hours and whether there is wheelchair access," the DOHA tender reads, adding that the Toilet Map website and relevant iPhone app provides information on "more than 16,000 publicly accessible toilets, owned by both public ... and private providers ... throughout Australia." The successful tenderer will also need to update the relevant public toilet data set hosted on data.gov.au, as well as provide 24/7 maintenance support services. The department is offering an initial two-year contract to the successful tenderer starting in June, with three 12-month extension options attached subject to performance. The fully fledged Toilet Map service is targeted to go live on 1 October 2012, according to tender documents. Submissions are open until 2 March.

World Toilet College

World Toilet College (WTC) has been conducting training courses since 2005. We saw the need to establish an independent world body which ensured that best practices and standards in toilet design, cleanliness and sanitation technologies were adopted through training and education. Our toilet college is the first and only training college of its kind and focuses on the needs of both rural and urban sanitation. In 2005, we signed a Memorandum of Association with Singapore Polytechnic who agreed to provide premises for our classroom training. Recently, WTC expanded its scope to support WTO’s commitment to reducing the number of people without access to sanitation, improving toilets, developing sustainable sanitation solutions; including development of sanitation and promoting school and ecological sanitation for the bottom of the pyramid. WTC’s courses professionalize the sanitation and restroom industry by providing relevant courses in a comprehensive manner. From Dec ‘09’ to Mar ‘10’ WTC was involved in the curriculum planning exercise organised by Singapore Workforce Development Agency with stakeholders in the environmental cleaning industry. We were instrumental in introducing the advance washroom cleaning module using the curriculum from the Restroom Specialist Training Course. This provided us with the opportunity to place the Restroom Specialist Course under national certification in the future. In June ‘10’, WTC received “Approved Training Organization” status from Singapore Workforce Development Agency. This allows us to conduct national certification programs for the environmental cleaning industry. We also completed “Integrated Sanitation & Hygiene Education” in Tamil Nadu, India - this project was completed and closed in January 2010. All objectives were met and the project was completed within budget.

World Toilet Summit

In 2001 WTO declared 19th November World Toilet Day (WTD). Today it is celebrated in over 19 countries with over 51 events being hosted by various water and sanitation advocates. World Toilet Organization created WTD to raise global awareness of the struggle 2.6 billion face every day without access to proper, clean sanitation.WTD also brings to the forefront the health, emotional and psychological consequences the poor endure as a result of inadequate sanitation. WTD's popularity is gaining momentum, and in 2010 there were 51 events spanning 19 countries. Our "Big Squat" campaign generated 24 "Big Squats" globally and in Singapore over 600 squatters joined the cause in six locations island-wide. WTO would love to see our day become "The" event that represents the sanitation crisis globally, and we strongly encourage our members, volunteers, the community, media and partners to get behind our cause and support our day. World Toilet Summit

This annually organized event brings together non-profit organizations, government bodies, academia and other industry players to address the sanitation crisis that affects 2.6 billion people globally. The inaugural World Toilet Summit was held in Singapore and across the past 10 years we have seen the summit being held across the globe. Previous summits were held in Seoul, Taipei, Beijing, Shanghai, Belfast, Moscow, Bangkok, New Delhi, Macau and Philadelphia. With the voices of influential leaders of the world coming together, the World Toilet Summit brings an opportunity to bring hope to the 40% of the world’s population needing proper sanitation. World Toilet Summit 2012 The 12th World Toilet Summit, The 1st for Africa, hosted by SATO and FPD, in December 2012, have been designed to muster the individual and collective minds of academia, legal professionals, technical specialist, industry leaders, gender advocacy, civil society, governments, educators and all other role players in the fields of sanitation, education, health and hygiene and human rights.

Op-Ed: The Neglected Public Bathroom

BOB, an inflatable cloud above a public bathroom and forum, the result of a pedagogical experiment involving graduate art and architecture students at Columbia University According to the New York Post, the National 9/11 Memorial will open this year with no bathrooms. The $508 million project will draw legions of visitors and is characterized by gushing water, but anyone seeking a toilet will have to leave the site for a nearby department store. This omission of public bathrooms resonates with a personal architectural experience. Over the past six months, I participated in a collaboration of art and architecture students to design a pavilion at Columbia University. It is located in a courtyard behind the architecture school and will be up for most of the summer. A temporary structure, a pavilion is often the architect’s opportunity to build without the inconvenience of plumbing or other practicalities. By Adrian Coleman Bucking the trend, our team eschewed highbrow inutility to design a public bathroom. Our mantra was an adapted Carl Andre quotation: A society that does not provide public bathrooms does not deserve public art. Columbia has almost no specified public bathrooms. By deploying a public bathroom in an academic courtyard, we wanted to recast a space of seclusion as open and engaged with the city. What distinguished our design from most public bathrooms was its composting toilet. Because our design was temporary, we couldn’t connect to existing pipelines. A septic tank, as in a portable toilet, was also impractical because it required frequent emptying. A composting toilet is a waterless technology that breaks human waste into organic fertilizer. Numerous community gardens in New York use this method because it requires little maintenance, produces a useful product, and is astonishingly unsmelly. Sewer gases are the product of anaerobic digestion, which takes place in a wet system with little oxygen. Composting toilets, through sawdust and a continuous airstream, dry and oxygenate the tank to enable aerobic digestion. Microbes decompose matter efficiently. Instead of manufacturing sulfate or methane gases, the composting toilet produces soil-enriching nitrates and nitrites. In our proposal, the fan-assisted ventilation of the tank also pressurized a large inflatable canopy. This balloon signified the bathroom from a distance. It represented its sphere of influence. We enjoyed the idea that something as taboo as the toilet could support a whimsical and highly visible thought-bubble. Alas, the reality of architecture is that few projects are realized as they are designed. Sometimes the powers-that-be are not interested in experimentation. Columbia Facilities reviewed our proposal early in the semester and expressed sufficient approval such that plans for ordering the composting toilet began during Spring Break. However, during April, with construction under way, Facilities informed us that the composting toilet was not permitted. They raised concerns about the smell of the bathroom, the legality of the installation, and the possibility of a leak. In response, our team put together a lengthy document to address each of their concerns. We included a letter from the manufacturer that verified the toilet would neither smell nor leak and that our installation scheme was consistent with manual specifications. We included passages of code to indicate our proposal was within the boundaries of the law. We also included a contingency plan so that in the unlikely case of a leak, a hazardous waste company could remove the toilet and decontaminate the site within twelve hours. Facilities was unmoved. Next, they claimed our composting toilet had been used in recreational or residential situations but not an academic courtyard. It would require six months of testing prior to installation. The reasoning was finicky, but we realized no matter how we argued our case, Facilities was determined to block the composting toilet. Ultimately, we completed our pavilion with the composting toilet for display purposes only. Named Bob for its gentle undulation, the balloon hangs above the non-functional bathroom and is in inflated by an electric fan separate from the composting system. Although our pavilion does not operate as we wished, we hope the diagram of our intention endures. For many of us, Bob is the first built project in which we were principal designers. The process was inspiring, frustrating, and eye-opening. I am proud of our pavilion, but our non-functional bathroom remains a lost opportunity. That Columbia University found our public bathroom threatening perhaps confirms its urban disengagement. That the City of New York and Columbia University both found public bathrooms to be extraneous or unjustified suggests a broader theme. Our society is invested in the photogenic image of architecture but not the gritty infrastructure to facilitate collective experience. As a young architect interested in more than art museums, I hope to challenge this trend throughout my career. Adrian Coleman is a graduate architecture student at Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Preservation, and Planning. Directed by Professors Galia Solomonoff, Liam Gillick, and Nathan Carter, he and other students designed Bob the Pavilion, which will host various events through the summer of 2011.

Elevating the Discourse: Public Toilets pt. 3

location: Eccleshall Wood (UK) Working with the city of Sheffield, a Sheffield School of Architecture’s MArch studio designed and constructed an awesome dry composting toilet in the nature preserve of Eccleshall Wood. This innovative privy uses no glue or metal fastenings. The stacked timbers create a stunning effect and allow lots of ventilation and illumination, though privacy may be a little lacking. This is an incredible play on the outhouse.

location: Geiranger (NO) Situated at the end of Geirangerfjord, this rest stop by 3RW may be one of the most interesting we’ve run across. The wooden shell is re-used timber from a dilapidated structure. The box is elevated on 5cm structural glazing, creating a fairly incredible effect from the interior. The color of the glazing is reminiscent of the cool hues of mountain lakes. The layering of the wood works really well given the context of the fjord, and is a great re-purposing of materials. This project is yet another stunner built for the Nasjonale turistveger (National tourist routes). We could definitely use better designed (and functioning) toilets along our national routes!

location: Jondal (NO) Another small project completed by 3RW for the Nasjonale turistveger. This compact outhouse is located at the Hardangerfjord. The colored concrete adds a touch of frivolity and interest to passing cars. Exterior walls are slate, which is left rough on the interior.

location: Brockenhurst (UK) John Pardey Architect have completed several interesting public conveniences, and we thought the form and layout of this one was the most noteworthy. The exterior is finished with stained timber and a zinc roof. The continuous skylight at the roof is a great touch, and provides ample light to the interior. The entire facade is lifted off the ground to aid cleaning and provide ventilation. Both toilet rooms (for men and women, naturally) back up to a shared ‘pipe alley’, keeping plumbing away from bored teenagers. It is easy to see why this was a 2004 finalist for the Prime Minister’s Award for Better Public Building.

location: Ban Tha Song Yang (TH) An elegant toilet and bathing structure for an orphanage in Thailand, this wooden project utilizes local materials and found objects in an incredible manner. The end result is a toilet better than most starchitects could even dream of. The concrete block boxes hold private spaces and provide a nice contrast to the bamboo screen. The total cost of this toilet was NOK22,500 (US$3,230) and was assembled in just over two weeks. TYIN tegnestue provides an excellent model of how simple projects combined with a little brainpower and elbow grease can significantly improve sanitary conditions in even the remotest of locations.

Elevating the Discourse: Public Toilets pt. 2

Set amidst a “who’s who” in Jinhua Architecture Park, these minimal concrete forms allow ventilation and sunlight into the bathrooms. The simple bent, repeated and rotated, creates a rather intriguing effect.

This toilet was part of a fascinating program allowing several up-and-coming Norwegian firms to build stunning projects along the Nasjonale turistveger (National tourist routes). Near the incredible viewing platform completed at the same time, this folly pairs a kiosk and toilet that gently jut out over the landscape. The concrete provides an interesting contrast and durable outer shell to the wooden partitions. Looking out at fjords while squatting must be a proud moment for Norwegians. Additional plans and photos on archdaily.

Completed in 2005, the Amager Strandpark is a manmade island just a short ride from the city center. The comfort stations are paired with showers, kiosks or information centers. These “bunkers” are phenomenal and provide multiple functions (a major bonus, in our eyes) – as meeting points, lounge/skating areas and especially as observation points. The ‘superdutch’ graphics also help identify where you are on the nearly 3 mile island. There are many reasons to have Copenhagen-envy, awesome toilets is definitely one of them.

This incredible landmark features an intensely inverted concrete pyramid that forms the roof. It is held off the exterior walls, creating a clerestory that provides a sliver of natural light to the interior. While we’re typically not huge fans of paint, the Corbusian treatment of the interior color looks good. The roof is pretty amazing – it’s hard to believe this is actually a toilet. Can we have more of these, please?

Elevating the Discourse: Public Toilets pt. 1

Toilets – almost everyone needs them, almost every project has them. Unfortunately, there has been a significant drought of naturally-lit, adequately ventilated and well-designed public restrooms. It’s no secret that light and ventilation keep bacteria and odors at bay – and can potentially elevate the process of squatting to a zen-like experience. Designers also need to work around tougher issues such as bored teenagers, spray paint and burning bowling balls. When working with the Seattle Parks Department, I came to realize that these utilitarian structures needed to ideally be bomb-proof – designed so nothing can burn, pipes are kept safe and with just enough visibility to deter illegal activities yet provide privacy. While you won’t find many comfort stations with Vola fixtures, the following are some of our favorites and definitely take the act of squatting in public to a much, much better place.

Rural Studio has been in the back of our minds since the early days of school. Under the guidance of Sambo, there were some incredible ideas brought to fruition. One of the more interesting realizations was the thesis project for Brannen Park, Melissa Sullivan, Sarah Dunn and Matt Foley. Three toilets, three different experiences. Materials used match a pavilion built at Perry Lakes Park the previous year. These are some loos where you could really meditate for a while.

Two corten endwalls support a 16 mm thick sheet of corten steel. Light, airy and definitely some structural gymnastics, this would make an impressive house – let alone a toilet. More photos/info on archdaily.

A celebration of the road trip, the automobile and durability – this stunning rest stop by BKK exudes a robustness and coolness of yesteryear. Concrete cylinders were cast on site with a ribbed profile to deter graffiti. One would almost need a 356 speedster or 2cv to roll into this baby.