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Easter strikes in Spain and Italy to spark travel chaos

Industrial action is jeopardising some trips over the Easter holidays, with disruption affecting travellers in Scotland.

Travel Correspondent

Tuesday 09 April 2019 22:12 BST

Ground control: staff at Spanish airports, including Barcelona, are planning to walk out on Easter Sunday (Simon Calder)

Travellers heading for parts of Continental Europe in April face uncertainty over more than than Brexit: the effects of industrial action.

Spain is expecting the worst strike-related disruption.

Security staff at Madrid airport belonging to the ATES union are threatening an indefinite strike starting on Friday 12 April in a dispute over pay and rosters.

Spanish airports are likely to be disrupted by one-day walk-outs called by ground staff belonging to the Union Sindical Obrera and Union General de Trabajadores on Easter Sunday and 24 April.

How Brexit will affect your travel to Europe

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1/14How Brexit will affect your travel to Europe

How Brexit will affect your travel to Europe

Passports

British passports that expire after 29 March 2019 will continue to be valid as UK travel documents, but will lose the power that comes with being a European Union passport – notably the right of free movement within the EU27. UK passports issued from 30 March 2019 will have the words “European Union” removed from the cover and the first page (along with the translations into Welsh and Gaelic). But they will still be burgundy. By October 2019, new British passports will have dark blue covers

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How Brexit will affect your travel to Europe

Pets

You will still be able to travel to the EU with your pet after Brexit, but it could well get more complicated depending on the status that the European Union decide to apply. If the UK is given “Part 2 listed status”, there would be some extra requirements for travelling pets and owners post-Brexit. “These would require an additional visit to the vet and some additional papers to be carried but would not prevent you from enjoying your trip,” says Eurotunnel. But it adds that if the UK is given unlisted, third-country status, “owners who wish to travel with their pets from the UK to EU nations will need to discuss their specific preparations and requirements with an Official Veterinarian at least four months prior to their desired travel date

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How Brexit will affect your travel to Europe

Eurotunnel/Eurostar

The Treaty of Canterbury between the UK and France governs the Channel Tunnel link and operations will continue – subject to any local disruption at Folkestone and/or Calais

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How Brexit will affect your travel to Europe

Driving

Motorists, whether taking their own cars or hiring abroad, are likely to need to obtain an International Driving Permit or two; different EU countries are signed up to different treaties, so for a trip embracing Spain and France you would need both types. These are currently sold from a limited number of Post Offices, but the government intends to make them widely available. The cost is £5.50 for each. Motor insurance will no longer automatically extend to the EU. Insurers will provide on request a “Green Card”, for which an extra charge will be made

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How Brexit will affect your travel to Europe

Flights

Even in the event of a no-deal Brexit, flights will continue to operate between the UK and European Union. However, in the event of the UK leaving with no deal, many flights are likely to be cancelled because departures would be capped at 2018 levels. As UK airlines have already announced thousands of new flights to Europe from the end of March 2019, some would have to be cancelled

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How Brexit will affect your travel to Europe

Air routes

The network of flight links between Britain and eastern Europe could be affected by any reduction in the number of workers from those countries. Not only do they use the flights – so do their families and friends

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How Brexit will affect your travel to Europe

Flight disruption rights

Current European passengers’ rights rules, known as EC261/2004, stipulate high payouts for delays and cancellations that cannot be attributed to “extraordinary circumstances”. Buried in a document called Beyond the Horizon: The Future of UK Aviation, the government says “the UK will not fall below current standards of protection when we leave the EU”

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How Brexit will affect your travel to Europe

Entry regulations to the European Union

From 11pm GMT on 29 March 2019, UK travellers will become “third-country nationals” when travelling to Schengen countries and subject to the standard rules of admission for citizens of nations such as the US, Japan and Australia. That means there must be at least 90 days (roughly three months) left on your passport beyond your intended date of departure. Because third-country nationals can remain in the Schengen area for 90 days, the actual check carried out could be that the passport has at least six months’ validity remaining on the date of arrival

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How Brexit will affect your travel to Europe

Online registration prior to travel – ETIAS

From 2021, non-EU nationals who do not require a visa to enter the Schengen area – including British travellers – will need to request prior authorisation to visit Schengen countries. The Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) is aimed at reducing the “migration, security or public-health risk” from nationals of visa-exempt third countries, which is what the UK will become after Brexit. It costs €7 for three years

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How Brexit will affect your travel to Europe

‘Brexit clauses’

A large number of travel providers – even including National Express coaches – have added “Brexit clauses” to their terms and conditions. These generally specify that they will not be liable for “consequential losses” as a result of Brexit-related issues

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How Brexit will affect your travel to Europe

‘Fast track’ lanes for passport control entering EU countries

British passport holders will not be able to use them, and must join the queue for third-country nationals. People holding an EU passport or ID card as well as a British passport will be able to exit the UK on the British passport but enter Europe on the EU document

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How Brexit will affect your travel to Europe

Ferries

The ferry industry insists vessels will continue to sail. The UK Chamber of Shipping says: “Unlike the carriage of cargo, trade deals do not have a significant effect on the cruise and passenger ferry industry. The explicit standardisation of commodity codes and tariffs associated with trade deals have little relevance to holidaymakers.” Having said that, the government and Kent County Council are planning for possible chaos at Channel ports because of a backlog of trucks in the event of a no-deal Brexit. This would impinge on holidaymakers’ plans

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How Brexit will affect your travel to Europe

European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)

The EU says: “If you fall ill or have an accident during a visit to another EU country, as an EU citizen you have the right to receive the necessary public healthcare in any EU country under the same conditions as people in the host country.” The EHIC also works in Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Treatment, says the NHS, is “at a reduced cost or, in many cases, free of charge”. From 11pm GMT on 29 March 2019, when the UK ceases to belong to the European Union, British travellers will have no automatic right to use the EHIC. There is no certainty about what may replace it

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How Brexit will affect your travel to Europe

Mobile phones

From 30 March 2019, the law banning mobile phone firms from charging extra for calls and data in Europe will cease, though operators have yet to set out exactly what will replace it. In theory, mobile phone firms can impose whatever fees they think the market will bear. But Dave Dyson, chef executive of Three, says his firm is “committed to maintain the availability of roaming in the EU at no additional cost following Brexit”

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On Spain’s railways, workers at Adif (the infrastructure operator, equivalent to Network Rail) are planning to strike on Wednesday 17 April.

A planned strike on 23 April by train drivers working for Renfe, the main Spanish train operators, may well lead to more cancellations.

Talks at the Spanish conciliation service, SIMA, failed to reach an agreement.

On 29 April, a strike is planned on the Barcelona Metro. It is likely to prove more disruptive for commuters than visitors.

While the city’s airport is on the Metro system, bus and train links into Barcelona are much faster.

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In Italy, Alitalia staff will strike for 24 hours on Saturday 13 April. On the same day, some workers at the two main Milan airports, Linate and Malpensa, will stop work.

Later in the year, Linate airport, which is close to the centre of Milan, is set to close from 27 July to 27 October 2019 for improvement work.

The city is quiet in August, but in September the closure will place a lot of pressure on the other main airport, Malpensa, and nearby Bergamo.

During the three months, Linate would normally handle around 2.3m passengers.

A wave of industrial action has already begun in Scotland, involving air-traffic controllers who belong to the Prospect union. They are in dispute with Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL) over pay.

The air-traffic controllers have begun a work-to-rule and an overtime ban. So far this week a dozen Loganair flights have been cancelled.

A planned strike on Friday 26 April, which would have closed six Scottish airports, has been called off after talks at Acas. In a joint statement, the parties said: “Prospect has agreed to suspend the strike action on the 26 April to allow discussions to continue.

“Action short of a strike will continue.”

In the early evening of Friday 5 April, one Loganair flight took off from Kirkwall airport without any air traffic control. The airline says that safe alternative procedures were followed.

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