What changes on Wednesday for holidaymakers in the south?
By 08:30 Aena had cancelled six of 1,176 planned flight movements in the Canary Islands, three at Tenerife South and three on Gran Canaria. The strike runs from 00:00 to 23:59, but according to the CCOO union, shifts can run into Thursday.
Aena sets minimum services of 56 to 74% at the airports, depending on the airport. No figures exist for individual Canary airports, and late-evening journeys are seen as the main risk.
Under EU Regulation 261/2004, passengers on cancelled flights are entitled to a refund or rebooking. Cash compensation is uncertain, because it is not clearly settled whether a general strike counts as an extraordinary circumstance.
What is happening at La Luz port on Gran Canaria?
On Wednesday, 30% of the dockers at La Luz took perishable goods and daily necessities out of containers, said Máximo Díaz, spokesperson for the dockers. The other 70% stood idle, because MSC's sea freight at La Luz is at a standstill nationwide.
At a meeting, the dockers decided to keep to the minimum services set by Puertos del Estado (the state port authority) and the La Luz port authority. They are not leading a demonstration, because CCOO and UGT, the two big unions, involved them neither in time nor properly, Díaz said.
About 1,000 lorry drivers who collect and deliver goods at the port reached the container terminals as normal, according to the haulage employers. What they could load did not depend on them.
How clear were the minimum services at the port?
Until late on Tuesday, neither Puertos del Estado nor the Las Palmas port authority had issued instructions, says José Ángel Hernández, general secretary of the Federación del Transporte en Canarias (the Canary transport federation). The guidance was not uniform, he says, and hardly anyone at the port knew which goods could leave the containers.
Hernández described the situation: “It was left to the goodwill and social sense of the dockers.” The haulage association FET (Federación de Empresarios de Transportes de Canarias) also reports that container terminals refused hauliers delivery and collection.
Hernández expects the freight figures for strike day to say little, because many firms stockpiled goods the week before. According to him, unloading went on until Sunday, with Black Friday in mind.
How many workers are on strike?
UGT Canarias reports 56% participation in the first hour, 61% across Spain and 100% at Aena. All figures date from the morning, are provisional and come from the party concerned.
CCOO cites peaks above 50% in the best-organised sectors and more than 1,000 delegates on picket lines between midnight and 11:00. The employers' association CEOE Tenerife puts private-sector participation at 1%.
The FET calls the impact on traffic practically negligible, and zero in freight transport. José Cristóbal García, general secretary of the Confederación Canaria de Empresarios de Las Palmas (the Las Palmas employers' confederation), says ports, airports and hospitals are working normally.
Vanesa Frahija, general secretary of CCOO Canarias, calls the strike a “resounding success”. On La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro, things stayed practically normal according to morning reports.
What minimum services apply to the tram, schools, hospitals and transfers?
UGT says Metropolitano de Tenerife, the tram operator, could not keep services running with the staff assigned to minimum services and wanted to name other workers. UGT sees a breach of the strike rules and plans a complaint, but it is not stated how often trams run.
School transport runs at 100%, according to orders in the BOC (the Canary Islands official gazette), while other education services have minimum staffing only. On Tenerife and La Palma, schools were already suspended because of Storm Charles.
Oncology, radiotherapy, dialysis, day clinics and hospital pharmacies keep 100% of staff, as do emergency staff outside regular hours. Primary care works with a reduced minimum.
Pre-booked rides between ports or airports and passengers' destinations must reach at least 40% of daily journeys. Anyone with a booked transfer should confirm it with the provider beforehand.
What happens after strike day?
In Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the demonstration starts at 17:30 at Plaza Weyler and ends at the Presidencia del Gobierno (the Canary regional government's seat). In Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the march leaves Parque Santa Catalina at 18:00 for the Delegación del Gobierno (the central government's office), and no road closures were announced.
UGT still plans to file its complaint about tram minimum services, but gave no date. The Federación Sindical Canaria does not rule out a Canary-only general strike after 11 November.
It is the first full-day joint general strike by CCOO and UGT since 2012, under the motto wages, housing and prices. The unions demand better pay, easier access to housing and free collective bargaining.
Spain votes early on 29 November, 18 days after the strike. Employers and some politicians questioned the timing, while the unions say their demands predate the new election.