When is the general strike in Spain and the Canary Islands?

CCOO and UGT have called the general strike for Wednesday 11 November 2026. It targets high housing costs and low wages.

Will buses and flights run in Tenerife on 11 November?

That is not confirmed, as no list of minimum services had been published as of Thursday. Travellers should ask their airline or bus operator beforehand.

How high will the minimum wage be in Spain in 2027?

The plan is 1,286 euros gross a month in 14 payments, 5.3% more than today’s 1,221 euros. It is not yet approved, and the Council of Ministers can decide after 16 November.

What is the average wage in the Canary Islands?

According to the INE, the average gross annual wage in 2024 was 25,120.38 euros. The Spanish average was 29,540.2 euros.

Tenerife general strike 11 November, minimum wage up 5.3%

Q: What do hotel staff in Tenerife earn under the new agreement?

The hotel agreement provides 7% from 1 July 2025, then 3.25% in the second and third years. The hoteliers’ association Ashotel puts the cumulative rise at 13.5% by 2028.

What does the 11 November general strike mean for visitors?

The CCOO and UGT unions have called a general strike for Wednesday 11 November 2026. They are protesting against high housing costs and low wages.

Vanesa Frahija (CCOO) and Manuel Navarro (UGT) lead the call in the Canary Islands. Their notice was due on 23 October at the Dirección General de Trabajo (the regional labour authority) in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

No one has published which minimum services apply, including for guaguas (public buses) or hotels in the south of Tenerife. The unions hope that no abusively high minimum services will be ordered.

If you fly, take a bus or have an appointment on 11 November, ask your airline, bus operator or hotel beforehand. As of Thursday, it was not clear whether the strike would hit daily life in the south, or how hard.

What does Unai Sordo say about wages and profits?

“Wages are growing more slowly than prices,” said Unai Sordo, general secretary of the CCOO union, in an interview, and he means Spain as a whole. According to Sordo, companies are also piling up more profit than almost ever before.

Sordo gave no figure for those profits in the interview. Employers dispute such claims from the union.

Sordo says the union has set aside 4 million euros to strengthen strikes for higher wages in collective agreements. On housing, he calls for more than 1.5 million homes at protected prices over the next decade.

Sordo spoke about Murcia and about Spain as a whole, not about the Canary Islands. He drew no link to Tenerife in the interview.

How far apart are wages and prices in the Canary Islands?

Workers in the Canary Islands earned an average of 25,120.38 euros gross a year in 2024, according to the wage structure survey of the INE (Spain’s national statistics office). Across Spain the figure was 29,540.2 euros, up 5.3% on 2023.

That gives the Canary Islands the second-lowest average wages in Spain. Only Extremadura is lower, at 24,979.44 euros, while the Basque Country is highest at 35,170.2 euros.

Prices in the Canary Islands rose 3.4% year on year in June 2026, against 3.2% across Spain, according to final INE figures. In September, Spanish inflation stood at 4.0%, driven by fuel, the INE says.

Wages set in collective agreements rose by an average of 2.96% in the Canary Islands up to June 2026, says the technical office of CCOO Canarias, based on the Labour Ministry’s bargaining statistics. Over the whole of 2025 the rise was 4.99%.

Frahija and Navarro also point out that 211,000 homes stand empty in the archipelago. October inflation figures are not yet out and are expected in mid-November.

How high should the minimum wage be from January 2027?

The minimum wage (SMI) is set to rise 5.3%, from the current 1,221 euros to 1,286 euros gross a month. The Labour Ministry wants to pay it in 14 instalments.

The draft Royal Decree went to public consultation on 5 November, and that runs until 16 November 2026. After that the Council of Ministers can approve it, with no vote in parliament needed.

The expert commission had recommended 4.9%, while CCOO and UGT demanded at least 7%. Sordo speaks of about 65 euros more a month and calls the rise very noticeable, but he sticks to his demand for 7%.

The dispute centres on offsetting: firms may set the increase against supplements such as night or hazard pay. The unions will not sign while that holds, and Sordo wants the rule changed.

The CEOE employers’ confederation rejects the rise, and its president Antonio Garamendi called it unfounded. Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz wants every firm to know the minimum wage on 1 January, but she named no date for the decision.

What applies to hotel and restaurant staff in Tenerife?

A three-year agreement has covered more than 76,000 hospitality workers in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife since 11 July 2025. Of these, 34,000 work in hotels and 42,000 in restaurants and leisure.

In hotels, wages rose 7% from 1 July 2025, followed by 3.25% in the second and third years. The hoteliers’ association Ashotel puts the cumulative rise at 13.5% by 2028.

A price clause offsets inflation but is capped at 5%. In restaurants and leisure the total is 9%, or 3% a year.

UGT, Intersindical Canaria and USO Canarias signed, and the agreement runs from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028, according to the CCOO database. CCOO did not sign and criticised a loss of rights.

Which dates matter before the end of the year?

After the general strike on 11 November, the minimum wage consultation ends on 16 November. The Council of Ministers can then approve the draft.

Spain holds elections on 29 November 2026. The plan is for the minimum wage to apply from 1 January 2027, provided the Council of Ministers agrees.

Minister Elma Saiz wants minimum wage earners to keep paying no income tax (IRPF). That needs a change in the law, which has not been passed, and the deduction is currently 591 euros.