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Indefinite Ground Staff Strike Hits 12 Major Spanish Airports

Peak-hour stoppages threaten long queues with baggage delays for Easter travelers.

Overview

  • Groundforce workers, who began intermittent stoppages Monday, are striking without an end date in three daily windows on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (5–7am, 11am–5pm, 10pm–midnight), according to airport operator Aena.
  • The action spans 12 hubs including Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga, Palma, Alicante and key Canary Island airports, involving roughly 5,578 staff and potentially affecting more than one million passengers.
  • Unions CCOO, UGT and USO say the dispute stems from unpaid or altered wage commitments in the collective agreement and concerns over working conditions.
  • Menzies staff have separate 24-hour walkouts scheduled for 2–6 April, a move that could compound delays if talks fail to produce a deal.
  • The EU Entry/Exit System, which records fingerprints and photos for non‑EU travelers and is nearing full rollout by 10 April, is expected to lengthen passport-control waits, so officials urge passengers to arrive early and minimize checked bags.