Massive strike in Mallorca: vacationers in danger! Wages in a dispute!

Massive strike in Mallorca: vacationers in danger! Wages in a dispute!

In the coming months, massive strikes will be in the hotel and hospitality industry in the coming months. As Oe24 , the workers are called up in Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca, protested in June and July. The "UGT" union scheduled the first strike for June 6th, followed by further actions on changing days in July. The background of the conflict are stuck collective bargaining.

The employees demand a wage increase of 19 % over three years, while employers only offer 8.5 %. These inadequate offers have already led to a previous strike on May 1st, which illustrated the disorder potential of the situation. The affected hotels are located in popular holiday resorts such as Platja de Palma, Palma Nova and Magaluf.

The background and demands of the employees

The termination of the collective agreement for the hotel and restaurant industry in the Balearic Islands on January 2, 2025 shows the urgency of the situation. This affects an estimated 180,000 employees who are represented by the UGT. The General Secretary of the UGT, José García Relucio, emphasized that a wage increase of more than 5 percent for 2025 is required, which exceeds the previous agreements of 8.3 percent for 2023 and 2024. Employers' associations are concerned that they cannot bear the increased personnel costs.

The union has also made demanding claims that go beyond the wage increase, including:

• shortening of the working week to 35 hours
• Extension of the guaranteed employment duration for seasonal workers from six to nine months
• Introduction of measures to combat the heat load in work environments
• Promotion of the further training of the staff in the industry

tourism protests as part of a larger trend

The general mood against tourism in Spain also contributes to the tense situation. Protests have already been held in cities such as Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia as well as on the Canary Islands. Thousands of people demonstrated under the motto "The Canary Islands have a limit" to point out the negative effects of tourism. Critics argue that mass tourism brings little for the local population and tightening the housing shortage as well as the cost of living.

In addition, the Spanish government plans to close over 65,000 illegal apartments of "Airbnb" to combat the living space crisis caused by tourism. The effects of these developments on vacation planning for summer travelers in the Balearic Islands are uncertain, but everything indicates that persistent conflicts and strikes could cloud the joy of vacation.