Will there be more strikes on Tenerife?

No further general strike has been called at present. Daniel Casal of the Federación Sindical Canaria does not rule out a new one and ties it to the response to 11 November.

Were hotels in southern Tenerife affected by the strike?

The hotel association Ashotel reported 0.75% turnout at member hotels in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and no incidents. There are no separate figures for the south of the island.

Were flights cancelled in the Canaries on 11 November?

Airports stayed open, but airlines could cancel part of their schedules. No confirmed list of cancelled flights in the Canaries exists.

Why did UGT and CCOO call the general strike?

The slogan was wages, housing, prices. The unions demand better pay, the use of empty homes, a stronger social safety net, and good public health and education.

Is there an official tally of strike turnout?

No summary assessment from the Canary government was found. Only figures from unions and employers circulate, and they are far apart.

Canary Islands general strike: unions 56%, employers 1%

What does the strike mean for visitors to Tenerife?

The 24-hour general strike called by UGT and CCOO on Wednesday 11 November 2026 is over. Our research found no change to prices, rules or deadlines for residents or visitors, and the unions have called no further strike day so far.

Airports stayed open on strike day, but airlines could cancel part of their schedules. The Canaries had higher minimum services than many mainland routes, yet no confirmed list of cancelled connections exists.

Ashotel, the hotel association for the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, reported 0.75% turnout at its member hotels. The figure was 0.83% overnight and 0.67% in the morning, and there are no separate figures for southern Tenerife.

UGT criticises the minimum services on the Metropolitano de Tenerife tram and plans to lodge a complaint. The operator had not replied by the time of reporting, and the content of the complaint is unpublished.

Who counted the turnout correctly?

UGT puts turnout at 56% for the first hours, while CCOO speaks of about 50%. Both figures are provisional, and UGT's number is five points below the 61% average it cites for Spain as a whole.

The employer groups CCE (Confederación Canaria de Empresarios) and CEOE-Tenerife see 1% turnout in the private sector, and about 4% at one large company. Pedro Alfonso, president of CEOE-Tenerife, called the figure “historically low”.

The employers point to electricity demand as proof. CCE president Pedro Ortega calls it objective evidence that the strike had little impact, because consumption exceeded the forecast.

The unions call the company data incomplete, as it misses those who went to work for fear of repercussions. UGT general secretary Manuel Navarro says workers on the islands are in a more precarious position, and a lost gross day's pay makes many hesitate.

What was the strike actually about?

The last significant general strike took place in 2012. This time UGT and CCOO called a new one under the slogan wages, housing, prices.

The unions cite 211,000 empty homes in the Canaries and demand wages that allow decent housing. According to Daniel Casal of the Federación Sindical Canaria, the wage gap to the Spanish average is about 500 euros.

Union speakers say social housing makes up 1% of the housing stock, against 15% for holiday rentals. Anyone looking for a home in southern Tenerife knows the issue first hand.

CCE president Pedro Ortega sees the housing shortage as a problem for families and firms, but doubts a strike can solve it. In his view, the authorities must act and speed up the building of new homes.

CCOO general secretary Vanesa Frahija reads the demonstrations as a rejection of property speculation, low wages and rising living costs. Navarro addressed the message to politicians at national, municipal and regional level.

What happened with minimum services and incidents?

Frahija calls the Canary government's minimum services “abusivos”, meaning abusive. She says CCOO was the only union at the meeting with the Función Pública (public service) department on the Friday before the strike, and the only one to vote against the proposal.

By her account, staff who had to work because of these services do not count as strikers. That weakens the turnout figures in the public sector.

Borja Suárez, general secretary of CCOO Servicios Canarias, reports that some firms used temporary agency staff to replace strikers. CCOO says it is preparing legal action over suspected strikebreaking.

The employers' group CCE reported incidents on Gran Canaria: pickets at Mercalaspalmas, metal spikes on the GC-1 and at bus stops, and a bus pelted with stones. It also said instructions on minimum services in the ports were unclear.

At the public broadcaster RTVC, turnout was 13.95% in television and 25.58% in radio. The radio programmes “El Remate” and “Roscas y Cotufas” were not broadcast.

What happens after 11 November?

The dispute over percentages is not new: in the 2012 general strike, unions reported 9.2 million participants nationwide, 77% of those called out. The employers' confederation CEOE put the figure at 12% at the time.

Daniel Casal does not rule out another general strike on the islands and ties it to the response to 11 November. The unions have called none.

Media reports say an early general election in Spain is due on 29 November, and the campaign began two days after the strike. Parliament had rejected two housing decrees at the start of October.

The Canary government expressed “respect for the constitutional right to strike”. No summary official assessment from the government and no independent count has been published so far.