What does the 11 November strike mean for visitors to Tenerife?

The general strike lasts 24 hours and falls on Wednesday 11 November 2026, according to RTVC. Airports do not close automatically and flights are not automatically cancelled, writes EuroWeekly News.

How much the strike bites depends on turnout and on minimum services. EuroWeekly News lists possible delays with baggage and ground handling, plus blockades on roads to airports.

Nothing is settled yet for buses, the tram or airports: by 3 November the Gobierno de Canarias (Canary Islands government) had published no minimum services for guaguas (local buses), TITSA, the tram or airports on Tenerife. We also found no decision on the 11N strike in the BOC (the Canaries’ official gazette).

If you fly on 11 November, check the flight status with the airline and with AENA, the airport operator. EuroWeekly News also advises allowing extra time to reach the airport.

On flights from Spain, EuroWeekly says, EU passenger rights apply: a refund, rebooking or compensation of up to 600 euros, depending on distance. A strike by another company’s staff can count as an extraordinary circumstance, which can limit the compensation.

What did Feijóo say about the strike?

Alberto Núñez Feijóo, president of the Partido Popular, asked the unions on Tuesday at a breakfast forum to “reconsider” the strike. He pointed to the Urda (Toledo) train crash that killed at least 69 people, according to La Provincia.

Feijóo said he does not question the right to strike, only its timing. He was responding to an earlier remark by PSOE politician María Jesús Montero that the strike targets the opposition, as Servimedia reports.

He warned the unions: “You will tie your image to Pedro Sánchez for ever.” He also said he does not want to open a front against the social partners, and he offered talks if he moves into government at La Moncloa.

The unions had not replied by 3 November, our research found. According to Diario de Avisos, union representatives in the Canaries reject the claim that the strike mainly targets political opponents.

Who is calling the strike, and what do the unions want?

UGT and CCOO announced the strike on 5 October 2026, RTVC reports. The trigger was the Congreso (Spain’s parliament) rejecting two draft housing decrees on 4 October.

On 19 October CCOO, UGT, CGT, CNT, Intersindical, CO.BAS, the actors’ union and the tenants’ association registered the strike with the Labour Ministry, according to RTVC. The unions call it a labour and civic strike and reject the label “purely political”.

The unions want pay rises of 4 to 7% in collective agreements and a minimum wage rising by at least 7%, RTVC lists. They also want housing costs capped at 33% of income and measures against housing speculation.

The Canaries have “the lowest wages in the whole country”, said Manuel Navarro of UGT. UGT, CCOO, FSC and Intersindical Canaria back the strike on the islands, Diario de Avisos reports.

Diario de Avisos gives two housing figures with no source or reference date: 211,000 empty homes on the islands and about 1% social housing, the lowest share in Spain. The figures come from unions and media and have not been checked against ISTAC or INE.

Why does the strike land in the middle of the election run-up?

It is the first joint strike by CCOO and UGT since 2012, says EuroWeekly News. RTVC reports that it falls 18 days before the general election on 29 November 2026 and two days before the campaign starts on 13 November.

The employers’ federation CEOE called the strike “illegal” and “electoral”, according to media reports. Democrata says it later dropped plans to challenge the strike in advance, but reserved the right to act afterwards.

Employers argue, according to Democrata, that the demands are not labour matters at heart. They say the cost of pressuring the government falls on firms and workers.

CSIF and USO are not taking part, according to a German media report. That note rests only on a preview in reports by ms-aktuell.de and Mallorca Magazin.

What is still open, and what happens next?

RTVC says the unions planned to register the strike on 24 October with the Canarian labour authority in Tenerife. They asked for no “abusive” minimum services, but which ones the Gobierno de Canarias sets is not yet known.

No demonstrations with times and routes have turned up in Santa Cruz de Tenerife or La Laguna, our research found. Expected turnout has not been published either.

Three dates frame the weeks ahead: the strike on 11 November, the campaign start on 13 November and the vote on 29 November. Whether Feijóo’s appeal changes the unions’ minds is open, and no reaction has been published.

Decisions on minimum services appear with the Gobierno de Canarias and in the BOC. AENA and the airlines publish flight data.