Valencia, Alicante, Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Malaga, Ibiza, Palma, Girona, Tenerife South, Lanzarote and Santiago airports are all set to be impacted
Milo Boyd Digital Travel Editor and Commercial Content Lead and Rita Sobot
16:00, 05 Aug 2025
Stock image(Image: Getty Images)
Those heading on holiday to Spain could face travel disruption due to strikes.
Valencia, Alicante, Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Malaga, Ibiza, Palma, Girona, Tenerife South, Lanzarote and Santiago airports are due to be impacted by workers downing tools over the coming weeks.
More than 3,000 Azul Handling baggage handlers are preparing to strike on August 15, 16, and 17, followed by every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday until the end of the year. By law, the workers have to provide a “minimum service” yet to be determined, but the action could still have a major impact on travellers.
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Azul Handling provides baggage handling services for Ryanair at its Spanish bases. The strikes have been announced after hospitality workers on 12 Spanish islands revealed their own walk-out plans.
The industry action will coincide with the long bank holiday weekend at the end of August and the days before most children return to school, potentially spelling major headaches for UK holidaymakers, reports the Mirror.
The strike will affect all bases and work centres in Spain and will take place between 5am and 9am, noon and 3pm and 9pm to 11.59pm. The union has said its decision to strike is based on what it sees as a lack of stable job creation and consolidation of working hours for permanent part-time staff, as well as a disagreement with bosses over bonuses.
It has also claimed there are issues with how workers are sanctioned and what it sees as an “abuse of overtime”. The strike is motivated by sanctions imposed on workers who refuse to work non-mandatory hours, with penalties of up to 36 days without employment or pay.
“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,” the unions said in a statement.
Jose Manuel Perez Grande, federal secretary of the FeSMC-UGT Air Union, claimed Azul Handling maintains “a strategy of precariousness and pressure on the workforce that violates basic labour rights and systematically ignores union demands.”
The FeSMC-UGT Air Sector demands that the company withdraw the sanctions, comply with the opinions of the Joint Commission and immediately open a real negotiation process, which will improve the working conditions of the more than 3,000 workers affected throughout the national territory.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “Ryanair does not expect any disruption to our operation as a result of these third-party handling strikes in Spain.”
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