What changes for flights to and from Tenerife?
No disruption on Tenerife has been confirmed so far. Our research found no Aena notice for Tenerife Norte or Sur and no DGAC cancellation order for 5 November.
The original report lists flights among the sectors joining the strike, but gives no figures. Whether any flight to or from Tenerife is cancelled remains open, and no report on it exists.
French air traffic controller strikes in July and September 2025 showed how hard they can hit. On one day the DGAC counted 1,125 cancelled flights, and Aena says such strikes also hit overflights linking the Canary Islands, the mainland and the Balearics with northern Europe.
No such controller action is confirmed for 5 November 2026. This look back serves only as a comparison, not as a forecast.
What should visitors and residents check before travelling?
If you fly to Tenerife via France, check your flight status directly with your airline. This also applies to routes over French airspace, and it is general advice, not a confirmed disruption.
In earlier strikes, flights between Germany and Spain were rerouted or cancelled when French airspace was restricted. For 5 November there is no evidence of this.
The four representative SNCF unions, CGT, Unsa ferroviaire, Sud Rail and CFDT, have jointly called the strike. If you are in Paris, expect a march from Place de la République to Place de la Nation.
The Paris transport operator RATP expected normal metro, bus and tram services on Tuesday 3 November. Some lines are exceptions because of the march.
What is the French general strike about?
On 5 November 2026, workers from the public and private sectors down tools. The unions registered around 260 demonstrations across the country, with Paris at the centre.
A meeting on 21 October triggered the strike, when the unions left a talk of about 2.5 hours with Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu at Matignon disappointed. CGT leader Sophie Binet said no measures were announced and none of their demands were examined.
The unions mainly want more purchasing power, less pressure from living costs and a higher minimum wage. In education they demand more funding, replacements for missing teachers and an end to the Parcoursup university admissions platform.
On 17 October, protests against living costs turned into riots and looting in several cities. The movement had begun a good month earlier with a student mobilisation.
How big is the mobilisation in France?
On strike day France puts 70,000 police officers and gendarmes on the streets, plus 26 armoured vehicles, helicopters and drones. Interior Minister Laurent Núñez says he wants to create “the safest routes possible” and avoid sensitive places such as town centres.
On Tuesday, the prefecture surprisingly approved the route through central Paris. In the previous weeks Núñez had rejected such routes through town centres, fearing fresh riots and looting.
The union Snuipp-FSU expects far higher turnout in some regions: half of all teachers in Oise and 40% in Eure-et-Loir. Sophie Vénétitay, general secretary of Snes-FSU, reported around 80 closed schools in Paris and up to 75% of staff on strike in parts of Seine-Saint-Denis.
The media are striking too. France Media Monde, which includes Radio France Internationale and France 24, runs a minimum service, as does BFM-TV, whose staff announced their participation only hours before the strike began.
What happens next in France and Spain?
The CGT wants to keep striking beyond 5 November and named no end date. Binet said it was time to step up the mobilisation.
Before 5 November the CFDT demanded concrete figures, above all on the minimum wage, and threatened open-ended strikes otherwise. Whether the government has replied is not known.
A second yellow vest action is planned, but reports contradict each other on the date. One gives 8 November, the other 22 October, which is long past.
Spain has its own strikes announced too: drivers on the Ouigo rail service plan to strike on 6 and 9 November, and a general strike follows on 11 November. They have nothing to do with the French action.
Reports say flights in Spain may face delays and cancellations on 11 November. No strike plan from authorities or airlines exists yet, and no concrete details are available for the Tenerife airports.