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Agence France-Presse

Jilted on dating apps but undeterred in the quest for romance, 20 young singles gathered in Madrid to share activities and flirtatious smiles in a rediscovery of real-life love.
The 10 men and 10 women, aged between 25 and 35, had eyed up each other nervously barely an hour before their first plunge into the “slow dating club”.
The concept is gaining popularity in Europe as youngsters fall out of love with apps and try to find their potential soulmate through serendipitous face-to-face encounters.
Eva Sanchez, 28, launched the club in the Spanish capital to rekindle her romantic flame after a potential suitor she met online “ghosted” her – suddenly cutting off all communication with no explanation.
My generation wants healthy relationships, but applications have created pessimism in love. We find it hard to believe in it
Eva Sanchez, who launched a ‘slow dating club’ in Madrid, Spain
“My generation wants healthy relationships, but applications have created pessimism in love. We find it hard to believe in it,” the creative director says.
Once a month, the Spanish-Peruvian organises a gathering at a different venue and with a different theme, where participants pay around €30 (US$31) to mingle around games and manual activities.

The singles “don’t feel like they are on a date” and “everything is a reason to bring out their cutest side”, says Sanchez, who plasters the walls of Madrid with posters promoting her club.
Dating app giants Tinder, Bumble, Meetic and Grindr have seen their downloads tumble by almost 20 per cent since 2020, according to Sensor Tower, an agency that analyses digital data.
The stock market valuation of Match Group, the parent company of Tinder, Hinge and Meetic, has slumped from its peak of €47 billion in 2021 to €7.7 billion more recently.
The younger generation increasingly “prefers to meet people in person rather than online”, Sensor Tower’s Seema Shah says.
One of the participants at Sanchez’s event, Damian, knows the “murky underside” of dating apps all too well after working on their algorithms as an IT developer.
Slow dating is working because it changes the paradigm … you assume you will meet people keen on the same thing as you
Psychologist and couples specialist Esther Jimenez
“I decided to meet people in real life, by going out and socialising. It’s harder,” the 33-year-old Franco-Spaniard says.
Isabel, a 28-year-old Chilean jurist, agreed that people “are almost scared to come up to your table” for fear of seeming “a bit weird or intrusive”.
“We have become so used to the screen that we have lost this attraction for direct interaction with people as our parents used to do,” she says.
With their revenues falling, online dating companies have been forced to diversify their offerings with group activities or informal meetings.
An expat group run by Briton Tom Hopcroft has also prioritised in-person meetings, targeting new arrivals in Madrid and Barcelona on his Instagram page with sessions that are fully booked.

Psychologist Esther Jimenez has seen first-hand how the young patients she receives in her Madrid practice are growing disenchanted.
Online dates are “consumed, but without an intention to really connect with the other person, more as entertainment”, the couples specialist says.
“For that reason lots of despair is showing up among the young who would like to meet someone to share their life with. Their self-esteem is affected.”
Jimenez believes “slow dating is working because it changes the paradigm … you assume you will meet other people keen on the same thing as you, connecting with others”.
The expert says the method prospective daters use matters less than how they use it.
“Are we consuming people or seeking connections?”
In a hyper-connected society where “the widespread feeling of loneliness is scary”, we must remember that “ultimately we are gregarious and we need others, that’s why we seek connections”, Jimenez says.


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Young single people at a “slow dating club” gathering in Madrid, Spain The face-to-face matchmaking scheme is part of a growing trend of ditching dating apps for face-to-face encounters. Photo: AFP

Spanish-Peruvian promoter Eva Sanchez launched her slow dating club after a potential suitor she met online ghosted her. Photo: AFP

Participants at a “slow dating club” gathering in Madrid. More young people are abandoning dating apps and seeking face-to-face encounters with potential suitors. Photo: AFP

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Family & Relationships

A monthly ‘slow dating club’ in Madrid attracts young people looking for face-to-face connection as part of a trend away from online dating


A monthly ‘slow dating club’ in Madrid attracts young people looking for face-to-face connection as part of a trend away from online dating.


Apps

Spain

Gen Z