Holiday travel across Spain is facing major disruption after ground handling staff launched an indefinite strike at the height of Semana Santa.
Workers at Groundforce – linked to Air Europa – walked out on March 30, with unions warning the action could impact more than 1.3 million passengers if no deal is reached.
The strike, backed by CCOO, UGT and USO, involves around 5,500 workers across at least a dozen major airports.
What’s behind the strike?
Unions say the dispute centres on falling real wages and the company’s refusal to honour pay agreements linked to inflation.
They accuse Groundforce of applying parts of the collective agreement “unilaterally”, effectively blocking salary increases tied to rising living costs since 2022.
Airports affected
The action spans some of Spain’s busiest hubs, including:
– Madrid-Barajas Airport
– Barcelona-El Prat Airport
– Malaga Airport
– Sevilla Airport
– Alicante-Elche Airport
– Valencia Airport
– Palma de Mallorca Airport
as well as Ibiza, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Bilbao and Zaragoza.
Strike timings
If no agreement is reached, stoppages are set to hit key travel days this week, including April 1 and April 3.
Walkouts are scheduled in three daily time slots: 5am to 7am, 11am to 5pm and 10pm to midnight.
These windows are designed to maximise disruption during peak passenger flow.
What happens next?
Unions insist their ‘priority remains negotiation’ – but warn they will not accept any move that shifts the burden of inflation onto workers.
Meanwhile, companies have asked the government to impose minimum service levels to keep airports running.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
