Air traffic controllers at 14 of Spain’s smaller airports have called stoppages from mid-April, as ground handling staff at other major airports pause their strikes this week while wage negotiations get underway.
Spain’s Air Traffic Controllers Union along with leading Spanish trade union CC OO have called for an indefinite walkout at 14 airports across Spain.
The strike is due to begin on April 17th midnight and will affect workers employed by Saerco at Madrid-Cuatro Vientos aiports, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Palma, El Hierro, La Gomera, Castellón, Burgos, Huesca, Ciudad Real, Vigo, A Coruña, Jerez and Seville airports.
Many of these are smaller airports, but could cause disruption for passengers, particularly in the Canary Islands, Galicia and Seville.
The stoppages also coincide with the massive movement of thousands of fans from the Basque Country to Seville for the Copa del Rey final between Real Sociedad and Atlético de Madrid, creating significant uncertainty regarding the operation of special flights scheduled for this reason.
It could also affect travellers looking to attend the famous Feria de Abril in Seville which runs from April 20th to 26th this year.
In a statement, the unions said that their decision to call the strike is intended to denounce the lack of staff, the deterioration of working conditions and its impact on operational safety at the above airports.
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They maintain that the conflict “is not due to isolated incidents”, but to a “structural problem stemming from years of staff reductions, excessive workload, organisational improvisation and non-compliance with regulations regarding rest, work-life balance and service planning”.
According to the strike notice filed on April 6th, the company has been reducing staff “without adequately replacing those who leave”.
Both unions state that they have tried to open negations with employer Saerco, but each time their meetings were either cancelled or postponed.
Workers are demanding sufficient staffing levels in all control towers, respect for rest periods, and working conditions compatible with safety and professionalism.
The air traffic controllers’ representatives emphasise that their demands “are not economic in nature,” as they are not requesting salary increases or more vacation time, but rather “an increase in staffing levels to guarantee operational safety”.
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READ ALSO: Second week of airport strikes in Spain to cause more delays and baggage issues
These stoppages come on top of those already called by ground handling staff at several other larger airports across Spain.
This week marks the second week of strikes by Groundforce employees at airports in Barcelona, Madrid, Alicante, Valencia, Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, Málaga, Las Palmas, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Bilbao.
However, this week’s remaining strike days have been paused as wage negotiations get underway.
These walkouts are due to continue indefinitely on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in three time slots: from 5 am to 7 am, from 11 am to 5 pm and from 10 pm to midnight.
So far, they have caused dozens of delays, extra-long queues and baggage not being unloaded from flights.
It’s worth noting that many of our readers who have travelled to and from Spanish airports in recent days haven’t reported any delays or baggage problems, suggesting that the strike action has caused limited issues overall for travellers.
While passengers to and from all the affected airports for both strikes should leave extra time and contact their airlines in advance, those planning on flying into and out of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands may face even bigger issues as both ground handling staff and air traffic controllers will be staging walkouts there.