Ground handling staff at the Spanish airline Iberia have begun a strike resulting in the cancellation of hundreds of flights.
The industrial action is said to be impacting 444 flights and over 45,000 travellers. It comes after negotiations between the Iberia group and the CCOO and UGT unions broke down.
The strike started on Friday, January 5 and is expected to last until Monday, January 8. The airline later announced that the cancellations had impacted 45,641 passengers.
Iberia Group reported that 80.2 percent of those passengers had been rebooked on alternative flights while a furhter 10.7 percent opted for a refund.
As a result, the company estimates that 91 percent of those affected have received a resolution.
The airline insisted that “they continue to work to relocate the rest, taking into account the complexity of the dates, just after Christmas, and the high occupancy factor of the flights”.
The company “asks all travellers to check in in advance through the website and to arrive at the airport with more time than usual.”
It comes as health authorities across Spain are reporting overwhelmed hospitals and health centres with patients left waiting in corridors for treatment.
Spanish GPs are calling for the reintroduction of compulsory mask-wearing in health settings and hospitals throughout the country in response to a winter surge of both Covid and flu.
While the Spanish government has not made any official statement regarding the reinstatement of mandatory mask-wearing, some regions, including Valencia, are independently reintroducing such measures.
Valencia took the step after infection rates reached 1,501 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
