Latest news with #UGT
The Sun
2 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Brits face holiday hotspot hell as bar staff in Tenerife send ultimatum to bosses or vow they will strike in peak season
BRITS chasing the sun this summer could face fresh holiday hell as bar staff prepare to strike during peak season. It comes after 80,000 employees took to the streets in Tenerife earlier in the year demanding better pay and working conditions. 6 6 6 In a move that could spark chaos for Brits travelling to Tenerife this summer, union bosses said industrial action could start as early as July. The unions, Sindicalistas de Base and UGT, have issued bosses with an ultimatum, warning of a major walk out if they are not granted a 6.5 per cent salary bump. They have made it clear that no further negotiations will happen if these conditions are not met. This isn't the first time Tenerife has been at the centre of sweeping industrial action. Last month, cleaners and restaurant workers in the sunny hotspot took to the streets after deeming an offer from their employer not acceptable. The tourism employers' association, formed by Ashotel and AERO, had offered a four per cent increase in pay for workers, hoping it would prevent them from protesting during the Easter holidays. But unions wanted 6.25 per cent. strike against tourists. With over 170,000 tourism workers in the Canary Islands set to protest, business owners about to welcome thousands of tourists were despairing. They planned to demonstrate in all the tourist hotspots, including Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote. By law, strikers have to provide a "minimum service" but the unions said hotel cleaning, food and entertainment don't fall into this category. They said they must try and preserve the health of hotel workers and provide them with the very best of working conditions. Elsewhere, locals flooded the streets to protest against mass tourism in the area. Activists vowed to storm popular tourist attractions, disrupt public events and 'confront political leaders' in a fiery new phase of protests kicking off May 18 — right as peak holiday season begins. 'From now on, we will take our fight to the very spaces where their predatory model is perpetuated,' declared pressure group Canarias tiene un límite (The Canaries Have a Limit). 'We will boycott public events, confront political leaders during their appearances and occupy symbolic tourist spaces to make it clear that we will not stop until real change is achieved.' 'The Canary Islands can no longer be a postcard backdrop for the enjoyment of a privileged few,' the statement read. In a separate warning, the group said: 'This cry, which reflects the feelings of a people tired of being ignored and mistreated, will be the beginning of a new stage of struggle: firmer, more direct, more uncomfortable for those who refuse to listen to us and take real measures.' The backlash follows a 170,000-strong hotel and restaurant workers' strike across the islands just days ago, with locals slamming low wages and poor working conditions in the booming holiday industry. In June last year, beach workers also walked off the job over what unions called "precarious" conditions. As tensions boil over, the Canary Islands Government has now announced plans to completely overhaul its outdated 30-year-old tourism laws in a landmark reform effort. Alfonso Cabello, spokesperson for the regional government, said: 'We're doing this the Canary Islands way — extending a hand and listening to everyone.' The sweeping reforms aim to tackle everything from sky-high housing costs in tourist areas to crumbling infrastructure and overworked public services. 6 6 6
Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Warning for holidaymakers as huge strikes to target peak season
The ultimatum was delivered today by the General Union of Workers, the UGT, which has told employers: "You have 15 days to raise wages or there will be a strike in the summer" Workers in a popular Spanish holiday destination are threatening to strike during the peak season. Hotel bosses in Tenerife are facing a stark threat from union leaders: agree to a pay rise within the next fortnight or brace for strike action in the peak of summer. Hospitality chiefs were hit with an ultimatum today by the General Union of Workers, the UGT, announcing to employers: "You have 15 days to raise wages or there will be a strike in the summer." Sindicalistas de Base, the leading union on the bargaining committee, has warned that failure to reach a deal by June 13 will result in a call to action with strikes during July and August. The unions demanded an unconditional salary hike retroactive to January 2025 as a precondition to discussing the rest of the items. The impending strikes could be an echo of the walkouts experienced during Easter Thursday and Friday, after protracted negotiations failed to lead to a deal. The rallying cry of the workers is for a 6.5% wage hike – an additional 4.5% atop the 2% already sanctioned by the collective agreement. In a powerful statement, the CCOO union has accused hotel employers of prioritising Tenerife's tourism image over the welfare of their employees. "What they don't tell you is that in all the postcards with photos of paradisiacal beaches and five-star hotels that mark the exterior image there is an internal face where the truth of the destination is told," the union said in a statement. "In this case the reality of the working conditions of the sector, the case of a housekeeper who has to take medication every day to make the day bearable and who is forced to clean private homes on days off in order to make ends meet. "That of waiters who, with split shifts, are condemned to be tied to the company for 12 or more hours a day, to collapse on the roads or to rest in the car between one shift and another. They don't show you the reception staff subjected to psychosocial risks on a daily basis. They don't tell you anything about the salary differences between provincial agreements of more than 20% in some categories." The new summer strikes would involve thousands of hospitality and restaurant staff, as well as cleaners, kitchen staff, reception, maintenance and entertainers. The strikes, if they go ahead, would have a particular big impact on British holidaymakers. The UK is the Canary Islands' most significant tourism market, accounting for over 40% of all international arrivals. Close to 6.3 million British tourists visited in 2024, marking an increase of over half a million compared to 2023. This figure is double that of German visitors, the second-largest market, which accounted for nearly three million tourists.
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Daily Mail
The worst places for overtourism in Spain this summer - and where to go instead
With strikes planned on the Balearics in June and July and anti-tourism protests happening across much of Spain, particularly in mainland cities and on the Canary Islands, you'd be forgiven for pointing your compass elsewhere this summer. Recent weeks have seen holidaymakers cowering in hotels across the Canaries as fed-up locals have disrupted sunshine bliss for thousands of Brits abroad. Protests have taken place in Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Ela Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, and Lanzarote, with those protesting chanting the slogan 'Canarias tiene un limite' (The Canaries has a limit) as they marched through popular resorts. Demonstrators have also taken to the streets in Barcelona and Valencia as well as Madrid, as tensions towards tourists have continued to rise over the last year. In April, locals fired water pistols at a tour bus outside Barcelona's Sagrada Familia, as they warned of bigger protests this summer. And tourists heading to Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca could see their holidays disrupted by waves of strikes this summer. Hotel workers across the Balearic islands are set to down tools in protests over pay and conditions during June and July - saying they're keen to cause as much upheaval as possible for tourists to cause maximum impact. The decision to strike - which is likely to affect thousands of holidaymakers - comes after the workers' union, Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT), said they were dissatisfied with progress during ongoing talks. Tourists heading to Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca could see their holidays disrupted by waves of strikes this summer. However, while the current situation appears far from ideal, a little lateral thinking can ensure a holiday in Spain can still be on the cards this summer, simply by switch out the country's busiest tourist hotspots for lesser known locations. Here's some of the best Spanish destination dupes to consider: SWAP MADRID A high citadel in Castile, foodie town Segovia is known for its turreted fairytale Alcazar castle and pretty sand-coloured buildings and an imposing Roman aqueduct, built under Emperor Trajan in the early 2nd century AD, and still standing despite the efforts of the besieging Moors in 1071. Then there's Segovia's strangest and most beautiful church, La Vera Cruz, or Church of the True Cross. It is 13th-century Romanesque with saints, herons and ghoulish wombats carved atop columns either side of the doors. The Knights Templar are said to have stood vigil over their arms all night in La Vera Cruz before riding off Santa Agueda dates from it is the women to rule on holy quests. Around 60 miles north of Madrid, it's easy to reach by train. It's hilly, so pack comfortable shoes. Another destination that's just an hour, this time in a southerly direction, from the Spanish capital - so easy to access via low-cost flights, Toledo is pretty as a picture. There's handsome stone buildings, cobbled passageways and towering spires that are enticing enough to make you forget the Catalan capital. The central Spanish city sits on the Tajo river, and rises up the hill to the Alcazar, a renaissance palace, with its Gothic cathedral right at the top. And like Segovia, it also has an Alcazar, although this one houses Madrid's National Army Museum. It is Toledo's dominant landmark and has undergone a series of transformations, most recently with the addition of a side wing built around the 16th-century foundations. When the mercury hots up, Ibiza's tiny little sister, Formentera, offers those in the know the chance to shrug off mass tourism and enjoy a more exclusive take on the Mediterranean summer. Yes, you'll need to fly into Ibiza to reach it, but then you're only a half-hour boat ride away from a much more tranquil destination - particularly in high season. The island is just 12 miles long and a mile-and-a-half wide at its narrowest point and there's little to do apart from eat, drink and enjoy the soft sand beaches. SWAP MARBELLA FOR... ESTEPONA Admittedly, there'll be less reality TV stars in Estepona, 40 minutes from Malaga airport, but that's a good thing, right? Quieter this Costa del Sol town may be but it's no less charming, with genteel white washed squares, a buzzing cultural life with urban art and poetry on the streets, and plenty of museums and galleries to enjoy. It's also surprisingly lush, and is frequently lauded as the 'garden of the Costa Del Sol' thanks to its stunning botanical gardens and orchid house. SWAP MALLORCA If you can bear to turn your back on the Balearics then the mainland has a city where the beaches are just as delightful. Murcia, in the county's south-east remains one of the least visited holiday destinations, but there's plenty to admire. Nicknamed 'Europe's Orchard' thanks to its production of fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers, Murcia is home to a simmering gastronomic scene. Flat and walkable, Spain's seventh largest city is worth visiting for restaurants alone, all offering reasonably-priced regional dishes. SWAP MENORCA FOR CADIZ... The Baroque watchtower of Torre Tavira offers stunning views of Cadiz from above. Pictured is the panoramic vista from the tower On Spain's Costa de la Luz (Coast of Light), there's a string of beguiling beach towns, with Cadiz amongst the most charming of them. Divided into old town and new, Cadiz is said to be the oldest continually inhabited city in Western Europe. So it's hardly surprising that this friendly port city is drenched in history – an estimated 3,000 years of it, to be precise. Those who do visit tourists feast on its renowned seafood, unwind on its glorious beaches or attend its wild annual carnival. The Gaditanos (or locals) are a friendly bunch and there's bargain tapas and live music alongside ancient sights and sandy beaches. Known affectionately as 'Little Havana', it's also home to a warren of narrow streets, sun-filled squares and a waterfront like that of the Cuban capital. So similar are the cities that Havana scenes in the Bond film Die Another Day - with Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry - were filmed here. Get there: Fly to Jerez, 45 minutes away, with Ryanair Tenerife has been one of the hardest hit destinations by the over-tourism protests but don't give up on the Canary Island; there are parts of it that are so peaceful, you'll think you've left and landed somewhere new. Tinerfeños have let tourism own the dark, dry plains of the south but preserved the lush, undulating lands of the north. The supermarkets and souvenir shops give way to pine trees, banana plantations - sectioned like the paddy fields of the Far East, and Dragon trees. UNESCO-stamped former capital San Cristóbal de La Laguna - or just La Laguna – in the heart of the north-east has one foot firmly in the past. It became an architectural blueprint for new towns across the Americas and still retains a 'last stop before the New World' feel to it. The best Airbnbs in Spain that you CAN stay in this summer - and how to tell if your holiday let is legal This week, Spain 's Ministry of Consumer Affairs ordered Airbnb to remove more than 65,000 holiday homes from its platform as part of a crackdown on illegal listings. Spain ordered the online holiday lets giant to remove the listings on Monday, with Pablo Bustinduy, Spain's Consumer Rights Minister, saying: 'No more excuses. Enough with protecting those who make a business out of the right to housing in our country.' The minister said his goal was to end the 'lack of control' and 'illegality' in the holiday rental industry - the country is currently facing a housing crisis as construction has failed to keep up with demand. The worst affected destinations appear to be cities, including tourist hotspots Barcelona, Madrid and Malaga; the latter has 85 per cent of flats in its historic centre linked to tourism lets. Where does the move leave your summer plans if you fancied heading to Britain's favourite holiday destination? The good news is that there are still plenty of properties right across Spain - including the Balearics and the Canary Islands - listed on Airbnb's website that are perfectly legal and do have the required registration. How can you tell? Look for the required eight digit 'registration number' - made up of letters and numbers - on listings. Tourists can find the code at the bottom of the page entitled 'About this space', which usually appears in a 'show more' grey box at the end of the property's initial description - if you can't see it, it's likely the let falls foul of Spain's requirements. Here's a selection of Spanish properties that all have registration numbers on their pages... so, what are you waiting for? MALLORCA Villa Sylvia, Pollença Villa Sylvia costs from £438 per night in the height of the summer holidays, and sleeps six people This three-bed rustic villa with a pool sits in beautiful Pollença, on Mallorca's north-eastern coast. Sleeping six guests, there's two bathrooms and a large covered terrace for al fresco dining - visitors can pick up delights at the weekly food market in Pollença. Other highlights nearby? Puerto Pollença, just a few miles east, has gently sloping golden sands that are perfect for families with younger children. Book it: From £438 a night, based on August departures MENORCA Ses Milans Villa Stylish interiors - and wi-fi and air con - make it a perfect summer stay for large groups Sleeping ten, this huge villa sits in rural splendour close to Menorca's second city of Mahon. There's five bedrooms, an outdoor bar, pool and beautiful beaches nearby. Inside there's stylish muted blue interiors, with all mod cons including wi-fi, a built-in sink bar and air con. IBIZA ' Country house with views ' Fancy a rustic bolt-hole just for two on the White Isle? This one-bed couple's retreat sits in Can Surya, in the northern part of Ibiza. Nearby beaches include Benirras or Puerto de Sant Miquel and tranquility is guaranteed. One former guest described it as 'one of the best airbnbs i've stayed in my many years of traveling'. Book it: From £259 a night BARCELONA Serviced boutique next to Rambla The registration number on this gorgeous apartment is front and centre in its listing, offering reassurance that this Barcelona holiday let is legit. The period apartment sleeps six in three bedrooms, each of which have a bathroom each - even better, Barcelona's most famous shopping street is just outside. SAN SEBASTIAN La Concha Natural light floods into La Concha, which overlooks San Sebastian's easy-on-the-eye beach This elegant two-bed property in Spain's most famous foodie town, just 15 miles from the French border in the country's north, boasts views of its winsome crescent bay. Sleeping four, there's bold modern artwork on the walls and a bright and airy island kitchen in the offing too. A stay in Donostia – as the city is known to locals - comes with gourmet dining opportunities galore, including San Seb's famous pintxo, the Basque region's refined take on tapas. Book it: From £501 a night CANARY ISLANDS Tenerife Finca la Mandarina Just a ten-minute drive from Tenerife's otherworldly Teide National Park, Finca la Mandarina is far from the madding crowds and has a 4.99 review score. Sleeping six guests across three bedrooms, this white-washed modern property is set on a 3,000m2 farm. There's one large villa, sleeping four, and another sleeping two - so ideal for grandparents wanting to travel on a family getaway.
News.com.au
23-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Massive hotel strike to ruin everyone's favourite European holiday spot
One of the world's favourite holiday islands are set to grind to a halt again this summer with a wave of strikes by hotel staff amid protests over pay and conditions. The Spanish Balearic Islands of Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca will be hit with drastic action throughout the peak June and July holiday season. This summer's disruption was planned after the workers' union, UGT, says no progress has been made over their demands for better pay and conditions. There is also a raft of specifically anti-tourist action planned, including occupying beaches and supergluing apartment locks. Unless a last-ditch deal is struck, there will be a mass walkout on June 6 followed by several days of strike action in July. The union warned tourists their holidays will be seriously impacted if the action goes ahead – and urged hotels to do everything within their power to prevent it. Specific demonstrations are planned for Platja de Palma and Palmanova-Magaluf – both beach spots on Mallorca. The UGT is the hospitality sector's largest union, and is spearheading efforts to renegotiate the Collective Agreement of the Balearic hotel industry. Thousands of hotel workers – including restaurant and bar staff – have already walked out earlier this year on May 1. The new wave will kick off right in front of the headquarters of the hotel federation of Mallorca – and at the end of June demonstrations will spring up at Platja de Palma and Palmanova-Magaluf. But the height of the disruption has been scheduled for July – with a call for several days of strike that will take place on alternate weeks. General secretary of UGT-Services on the islands, José García Relucio, said that very little had been agreed so far – other than that the new agreement will apply for three years. There is still a huge void between the two sides' position on pay rises. The union demands wages must rise by 19 per cent across the three years to 2027, while the offer from employers flags at 8.5 per cent, less than half the demand. With few signs of an imminent consensus, union chiefs decided on Wednesday to begin mobilising strike plans. On June 6, crowds of delegates are expected to meet at the UGT headquarters in Palma for an assembly. Attendees will be updated on the progress of the negotiations before a rally at noon outside the Mallorcan Hotel Federation. And another rally is scheduled for the end of June at the Platja de Palma, this time in front of the local hotel association HQ. The union hopes to add another similar protest in the Palmanova-Magaluf area, so that the workers' fury will be felt in the main tourist centre in the Bay of Palma. But the main event will come in July, according to island newspaper Diario de Mallorca. A UGT official said: 'If we don't see the possibility of an agreement in principle, we will call a strike lasting several days.' Their intention, the union confirmed, is to disrupt tourists' holidays as much as possible. Make as much impact as possible on tourists. Another union the CCOO (Working Council of Workers) has been invited to join in. The union's complaints include a lack of access to decent housing, the tourist saturation without benefit, growing workloads, stagnating salaries and wage discrimination.
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Huge hotel strike set to hit Brits' favourite holiday islands over peak summer season
Tourists heading to Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca could see their holidays disrupted by waves of strikes this summer. Hotel workers across the Balearic islands are set to down tools in protests over pay and conditions during June and July - saying they're keen to cause as much upheaval as possible for tourists to cause maximum impact. The decision to strike - which is likely to affect thousands of holidaymakers - comes after the workers' union, Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT), said they were dissatisfied with progress during ongoing talks. A summer of discontent looks likely across Spain with more anti-tourism protests - which have already occurred in cities across Spain as well as the Canary Islands - in the pipeline. On Monday, Spain's Ministry of Consumer Affairs ordered Airbnb to remove more than 65,000 holiday homes from its platform as part of a crackdown on illegal listings, saying that they violated 'various regulations on tourist-use housing'. The country is currently facing a housing crisis as construction has failed to keep up with demand - and less tourists is being seen as one way to solve it. The islands have already experienced a similar strike on May 1st and travellers with holidays already booked will be hoping that an eleventh hour deal will be struck to avert the mass walk-out. Currently, a strike is planned for June 6th - with a rally outside the Mallorcan Hotel Federation planed - with further action likely to follow over several days on alternate weeks in July. A UGT official said: 'If we don't see the possibility of an agreement in principle, we will call a strike lasting several days.' Properties affected include hotels in some of Mallorca's most popular resorts, Platja de Palma and Palmanova-Magaluf - with hotel workers, including bar and restaurant staff, set to stay at home. Those at the table for the UGT, the largest union for the hospitality sector, are campaigning for better pay and conditions, via a renegotiation of the Collective Agreement of the Balearic hotel industry. General secretary of UGT-Services on the islands, José García Relucio, said while he was hopeful of a last-minute resolution, nothing had been agreed so far - with plans made to formalise the strikes yesterday. The UGT is looking for a 19 per cent rise in wages over the next three years - but employers are refusing to budge beyond 8.5 per cent. News of the latest strikes are likely to be a bitter pill for British tourists to swallow; the nation's love affair with Spain spans back decades and, according to YouGov data published earlier this year, it's the place we're most likely to go to for a summer holiday in 2025. Data collected in the last three months of 2024 showed that Spain remains Britain's favourite destination, with 15.9% of Brits saying it's the country they're most likely to visit next, with the UK (14.3%) and Italy (9.3%), in second and third place. Thousands of anti-tourism protesters took to the streets of the Canary Islands this week as part of an ongoing backlash against holidaymakers in Spain - the country has ordered Airbnb to remove more than 65,000 holiday homes from its platform as part of a crackdown on illegal listings The interactive map published in Spanish newspaper El Diario this week showed exactly which resorts and cities in the country have the highest numbers of tourist lets. The map, which used data from the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE), reveals where the 397,000 holiday rentals that were listed in August last year on Airbnb, and Vrbo are. Surprisingly, Spanish cities have the highest proportion of tourist lets compared with beach resorts, with 85% of apartments in Malaga's historic central district linked to holiday rentals. Meanwhile in Barcelona, one in ten flats in the popular tourist districts of Plaça Catalunya and Passeig de Gràcia are rented out to tourists according to the data, while in Madrid's Puerta del Sol more than 20 per cent of flats host tourists in the Spanish capital. This week, holidaymakers were reportedly cowering in hotels as anti-tourism protesters stormed the streets of the Canary Islands, as fed up locals disrupted sunshine bliss for tourists. Thousands of fed-up residents kicked off demonstrations across the archipelago, including in Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Ela Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, and Lanzarote. Dozens of armed officers from the National Police were seen on patrol, as protesters were heard blowing through enormous shells to make a loud horn-like noise, while banging on drums. They marched with the slogan 'Canarias tiene un limite' (The Canaries has a limit, while slogan were chanted such as: 'El dinero del turismo, donde está?', meaning 'The money from tourism, where is it?' Demonstrators have also taken to the streets in Barcelona, Valencia as well as Madrid, as tensions towards tourists have continued to rise over the last year. set to be banned - because officials say they don't include a licence number and some do not specify whether they're run by an individual or corporation, is likely to further inflame tensions.
