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The analytical performances of two algorithms, the recently introduced bilinear least-squares (BLLS) and the popular parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), are compared as regards second-order fluorescence data recorded for the determination of the fluoroquinolone antibiotic ciprofloxacin in human urine samples. The applied chemometric methodologies employ different strategies for exploiting the so-called second-order advantage, which allows one to obtain individual concentrations of calibrated analytes in the presence of any number of uncalibrated (urine) components. Analysis of a spiked urine test set (in the analyte concentration range 0-200 mg L(-1)) showed that BLLS provides results of slightly better quality than PARAFAC. Satisfactory results have been obtained on comparing the concentrations predicted for a series of real urine samples with those furnished by liquid chromatography. The limit of detection of the fluorescence-based methods is approximately 5 mg L(-1).