Deposit on Drinks in Spain (Fianza/Pfand): How It Works in Mallorca

If you’re visiting from the UK, Scandinavia or the US, the word fianza (or German Pfand) on your drinks order may be new to you. It’s simple, it’s refundable, and it’s the reason Spanish drinks in returnable glass taste better and cost less than you’d think.

What is the deposit?

Many drinks in Spain — especially water and beer in glass bottles — come in returnable crates. You pay a small deposit for the bottles and crate on top of the drink price. Return the empties, get the deposit back. The exact amount is shown on every product and itemised separately in your order, so there are no surprises.

How it works with delivery — the easy part

This is where ordering from a delivery service beats the supermarket: you never have to carry empties anywhere.

• We deliver full crates to your door, villa or finca.
• On your next delivery — or when we collect rental equipment — the driver takes the empties back.
• The deposit is credited against your order or refunded on the spot.

No bottle bank, no sticky crates in the rental car, no queuing at a supermarket machine.

What carries a deposit?

• Returnable glass crates — most Spanish waters (like Mallorca’s own Font Major) and many beers.
• Beer kegs — the barrel itself carries a deposit, refunded when we pick it up.
• Not everything: cans and single-use PET bottles usually have no deposit in Spain (no worries — nothing to return).

Holiday tip

Leaving Mallorca soon? Plan your last delivery a day or two before departure and hand the driver all your empties — deposit settled, suitcase free of clinking glass. Ordering for your stay is easiest via our holiday villa & finca delivery service.