World’s First Tickle Spa Spreads Laughter (and Relaxation) in Spain

Laughter is the best form of medicine, right? Well, one spa is taking the saying to new heights with the world’s first tickling spa now open in Spain, Time.com reports.

Cosquillearte, which opened in Madrid in December, offers half-hour and hour sessions for $35 and $45 respectively in its two treatment rooms, where guests can lie down on a massage table…and be tickled. The name of the spa, Cosquillarte, can be translated to “tickle yourself” or “tickle art,” Time.com says.

“My dad used to tickle me to get me to go to sleep, so it’s always relaxed me,” owner Isabel Aires, who developed the treatment with two trained massage therapists, said in the published report. “One day I just thought, why can’t I pay someone to do this, in the same way as I can pay for a massage?”

“There’s no school for tickling,” she said. “We had to invent it ourselves.”

With an environment much like many other day spas, the treatment takes place in a darkened room, with soothing music playing and a hint of incense in the air, Time.com’s Lisa Abend reports.

“The client disrobes, puts on a pair of crinkly paper panties and lies face-down on the table,” Abend, who describes herself as extremely ticklish, explains. “And then the tickling — first with fingertips drawn along the body, then a feather — begins.”

“We use a variety of strokes,” therapist Lourdes Nieto told Time.com. “If someone is super ticklish, we’ll press harder. The idea is to relax them, not stress them out.”

Abend, while extremely ticklish, confirmed that the treatment is in fact relaxing and reports that most everyone seems to leave happy – and hooked.

Now, even countries as far as Latin America and Russia have started to inquire about Aires’ tickle spa. She has started the process of setting up franchises and is also negotiating an agreement with a Spanish hotel chain to offer in-room treatments, Time.com says. Now, with the hot summer heat in Madrid, Aires is working on developing a summer treatment with cold hands, Abend reports.

What do you think – would you go to a tickle spa to get your fix or does the idea alone make you laugh? We’re thinking it wouldn’t hurt to try!