Groundforce Strike Day 1: Luggage left in Madrid, delays pile up — and tomorrow will be worse

What had been feared for days became reality on Monday morning: the Groundforce ground handling strike has begun. At Gran Canaria airport (LPA), one of the five most affected airports in Spain, the first day of strikes caused continuous delays on all Air Europa flights — the airline for which Groundforce exclusively handles ground operations.

What happened on Monday

The strike windows look deceptively short on paper: 5 to 7am, 11am to 5pm, 10pm to midnight. In practice, this means chain reactions throughout the entire day. A plane departing Madrid 40 minutes late at noon arrives late in Gran Canaria, departs late on the return, and so on. By the end of the day, delays of nearly an hour on the Madrid-Gran Canaria route were the norm.

The bigger problem was not the delays but the luggage. At several mainland airports — Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao — planes took off without passengers' suitcases in the hold. The result: travellers arrived at Canary Islands airports and waited in vain at the baggage carousel. Groundforce handles the loading, unloading and sorting of luggage — precisely the work that was understaffed during strike windows.

Why they are striking

The dispute is about pay. The unions CCOO, UGT and USO accuse Groundforce of failing to correctly implement the inflation adjustment agreed in the collective bargaining agreement. Certain professional groups — administration and agents — are receiving only 4.58 per cent instead of the agreed 7.82 per cent salary increase, according to the unions. Groundforce, a subsidiary of the Globalia group and service provider for Air Europa, disputes this interpretation.

Around 1,000 Groundforce employees in the Canary Islands have been called to strike. The Transport Ministry has mandated minimum services of 60 per cent — which ensures operations but not normality.

What this means for Easter week

Strikes take place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The next strike day is therefore Wednesday, 2 April — the eve of Maundy Thursday and one of the busiest travel days of the year. Good Friday, 4 April, is the following strike day.

In parallel, the Menzies dispute continues. Menzies, the second major handling provider in the Canary Islands, has announced 24-hour full strikes for 2-6 April — though signals suggest an agreement may be imminent. Should negotiations fail, both providers would strike simultaneously on 2 and 3 April. That would be the worst-case scenario for anyone flying over Easter.

What travellers should do now

Arrive at the airport four hours before departure. The official recommendation has been doubled from two to four hours.

Travel with carry-on only. The biggest risk is not the delay but lost luggage. Flying with hand luggage only bypasses the main problem entirely.

Prefer early flights. Morning flights before 11am often depart without major disruption, as delays accumulate throughout the day.

Check flight status online before going to the airport. Airline apps are more reliable than departure boards.

Know your EU rights. For delays exceeding three hours or cancellations, passengers are entitled to compensation of up to 600 euros. For strikes by ground handlers (not the airline itself), EU Regulation 261/2004 applies. Consumer organisation FACUA has already reminded airlines of their obligations: rebooking, meals, and hotel accommodation if an overnight stay becomes necessary.

CITA News is monitoring developments and will update as soon as decisions on Menzies or changes to Groundforce are announced.