Spain airport strikes: Where major disruption is set to hit passengers this summer

Strikes across popular destinations such as Madrid, Barcelona, Ibiza and Palma de Mallorca kick off on Friday, 15 August

British tourists are being warned of strikes across Spanish airports that start today (Friday August 15) and will continue over the busy school summer holiday weekend.

More than 3,000 workers at Azul Handling, part of Ryanair group, are set to walk out following a decision by the General Union of Workers (UGT).

Azul Handling provides full baggage handling services to Ryanair group airlines including Buzz, Lauda Europe, Malta Air, Ryanair DAC and Ryanair UK at several Spanish airports.

Alongside Azul Hangling, Spain’s airport group, Aena has also warned of a strike called by ground handling company Menzies on 16, 17, 23, 24, 30 and 31 August.

For both sets of strikes, Aena has asked passengers to contact their airline to check the status of their flights over this period.

How many passengers and flights could be affected?

Airports in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Malaga, Alicante, Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca, Girona, Tenerife South, Lanzarote and Santiago de Compostela are due to be affected.

The initial action is set to take place on 15, 16 and 17 August across three time slots: 5am to 9am, 12pm to 3pm and 9pm to 11.59pm.

Strikes will then continue every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday until December 31, 2025. The August bank holiday weekend, just before children return to school in Britain, is among the dates affected.

In a statement to the Daily Mail, the unions said: “UGT regrets having to go to these extremes and all the damages that may occur, for which the direct responsibility will be solely and exclusively the company and its reckless action with the workforce.”

A spokesperson for Ryanair told The Independent ahead of the strikes: “Due to Spain’s minimum service legislation during peak summer months, we do not expect any disruption to our operation as a result of these strikes (by the UGT union who represent less than 20% of Azul staff) in our third-party handler in Spain.”

A record-breaking 18.4 million British tourists travelled to Spain in 2024, despite anti-tourism protests across the country. It remains among the most popular destination for UK holidaymakers, despite a suspected downturn in the number of visitors in Mallorca this year.

Menzies said in a statement: “Our priority is to ensure safe, efficient operations while fostering a respectful and constructive work environment for our hard-working teams. We continue negotiations with UGT and are in ongoing discussions with local and regional union leaders.

“We remain committed to open, constructive dialogue to reach a fair, workable agreement that supports positive workplace conditions at the airport and safeguards services for our airline and airport partners, as well as their customers.

“In the event strike action proceeds, we have robust contingency plans in place to safeguard operations and minimise disruption during the busy summer period.”

Why is the union calling for a strike?

The baggage handlers are protesting against bonus agreements and “the abuse of overtime”, among other factors.

The union cites reasons including the lack of stable job creation and consolidation of working hours for permanent part-time staff, imposition of overtime work under coercion, and what they see as disproportionate penalties sometimes being applied.

José Manuel Pérez Grande, federal secretary of the FeSMC-UGT Air Union, said Azul Handling maintains "a strategy of precariousness and pressure on the workforce that violates basic labor rights and systematically ignores union demands."

What are my rights if my flight is delayed?

If your flight is delayed or cancelled due to strike action, contact your airline immediately.

For delays of under two hours, there is no opportunity for recourse. If a short delay triggers a missed connection and you arrive at your final ticketed destination three hours or more late, you are still in line for compensation – as long as the cause was down to the airline.

For longer delays, the airline should provide refreshments as appropriate after a specified length of time. This applies regardless of the cause of the delay.

The time at which the duty of care kicks in depends on the distance you are flying:

• Short flights (up to 1,500km): refreshments after two hours.
• Mid-haul journeys (1,500 to 3,500km): three hours.
• Longer trips: four hours.

Note that if the airline believes providing the care would further delay the flight, it need not deliver.

If the delay extends overnight, the airline is obliged to find and pay for a hotel room. In practice, carriers often say, “too difficult”, and invite the passenger to book their own and reclaim later.

While this practice does not comply fully with the rules, aviation authorities tend to turn a blind eye to it.

If your flight is cancelled, and you decide not to travel, you should get money back within a week. Some airlines may offer a voucher instead. If there is a benefit in taking a voucher – say an “uplift” in value of 25 per cent – and you know you will be using the same airline within a year, that might be a good decision.

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