Brits face summer of rolling chaos on 12 Spanish holiday islands
Holidaymakers face disruption on 12 Spanish holiday islands this summer as workers threaten to hold a series of strikes.
Spanish hotel bosses have proposed substantial wage increases for their staff, but unions have rejected the offer, threatening disruptive strikes this summer that could impact thousands of British holidaymakers. Union leaders in the Balearic Islands are vowing "several days of strikes" in July and worker protests from the end of this month unless their pay demands are met.
Meanwhile, in Tenerife and three other Canary Islands, British tourists have been warned to brace themselves for potential chaos this summer if hotel workers follow through with their threat to strike every Friday during July and August.
The likelihood of walkouts in both popular holiday destinations has increased as employers raised their pay offers, only to be dismissed by union leaders who labelled the proposed rises as "crumbs."
The Canary Islands are made up of eight main islands: Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro, and La Graciosa. The Balearic Islands number 151 in total, but the big four workers will likely target with strikes are Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera.
At the same time as works threaten to strike over industrial disputes, overtourism protesters are planning to hit the streets in holiday hotspots across Spain.
Grassroots union members staged protests outside two hotels in southern Tenerife on Tuesday to protest against the Ashotel employers' association's "blocking" of a 6.5% wage increase before the negotiation of a new hospitality agreement.
Hotel chiefs in the Balearic Islands upped a wage rise proposal already on the table to 9.5 per cent over three years - but were warned to expect a 'no' from worker representatives set to demand more than double that at a crucial meeting this afternoon. UGT union spokesman Jose Garcia Relucio described the offer ahead of the meeting as "more crumbs" and claimed hotel bosses wanted their workers to survive on tips.
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Further south, the prospect of strike action this summer seems more likely after a lukewarm response from unions to a proposed 13.5 per cent pay rise over three years by hotel association Ashotel. Late yesterday, Ashotel unveiled its new wage increase proposals, which would impact over 33,000 workers in Tenerife and the islands of La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro.
The statement read: "This increase is broken down as follows: seven per cent in the first year from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026, 3.25 per cent from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, and the remaining 3.25 per cent from 1 July 2027 to 30 June 2028."
A representative for the hotel association added, describing a previous Easter hotel strike in the area as "unfair": "Ashotel has always been open to negotiate, even with a collective agreement in force until 2026 and with a strike held at Easter, which it considers was unfair."
Union members are scheduled to vote on potential strike action next Monday in Tenerife and the western Canary Islands. If they proceed, the first strike is slated for July 4, followed by further industrial action every Friday for the remainder of July and August.
Unions are also planning to stage protests outside hotel entrances. During the last strike in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, union representatives highlighted that the tourism subsector depends on an increasingly precarious workforce, with exhausting workdays, insufficient wages for a decent living, and conditions that directly impact the physical and mental health of workers.
"They talk a lot about tourism excellence, about how we are a leading destination, but they don't talk about the conditions endured by the workers who keep this sector alive. It's over; it's time to recognise and value the role we play, and that must be reflected in a fair agreement," stated José Tomás Ramos, a member of the negotiating table for the Provincial Hospitality Collective Agreement in Santa Cruz de Tenerife for the UGT (Union of Workers' Unions).
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