Airline strikes and cancellations set to continue in August
A cabin crew strike at Ryanair in Spain, which began in June causing hundreds of flight cancellations and delays, will continue until January 2023 with regular 24-hour work stoppages, two workers’ unions said on Wednesday.
That means that if you’re travelling with the low-cost airline in August to and from Spain, there’s a chance your flight will be affected.
So far, most of the cancellations and delays have been for flights travelling to or from Barcelona, Madrid, Palma de Mallorca, Alicante, Ibiza, Málaga, and Valencia.
The following link includes some of the confirmed cancelled flights for early August.
On a more positive note, EasyJet flight crews have ended their strike after reaching a deal with management that raises wages by over a fifth, the USO trade union said. that means that remaining strike days planned for July 29th, 30th and 31st have now been cancelled as have any potential stoppages in August.
New immigration rules to offset labour shortages come into force
Spain’s government recently decided to ease the country’s immigration laws to make it easier for citizens from outside the European Union to work in the country to address labour shortages in areas such as tourism and agriculture.
Under the reform , which comes into force on August 15th, foreigners from outside of the bloc who have lived in the country for two years or more can seek temporary residency papers.
The reform will also allow international students to work up to 30 hours a week while studying, and to start work in Spain at the end of their studies.
It will also make it easier for foreigners to obtain a work visa to come to Spain and take up jobs in areas facing labour shortages.
These measures will “improve the Spanish migratory model and its procedures, which are often slow and unsuitable” and have “high social and economic costs for Spain,” the social security ministry said in a statement.
Social Security and Migration Minister Jose Luis Escrivá said the reform aims to “encourage regular, orderly and safe immigration”.
While Spain’s unemployment rate of 13.65 percent is high by European standards, employers say they struggle to hire workers in sectors such as tourism, agriculture, construction and trucking.
Citizens of European Union nations are allowed to live and work in Spain but this has not been enough to help ease labour shortages.
Spain also has migration programmes with countries such as Morocco, Ecuador and Colombia to ease job shortages in specific areas.
One of Spain’s longest heatwaves ends, but high temperatures expected in August
Temperatures are finally beginning to drop after the hottest heatwave in Spain since 2003, which has caused problems throughout the country with wildfires and deaths due to heatstroke. From Tuesday, July 26th the heat will become less intense as the mercury drops across much of the country, bringing much-needed respite.
However, it will still be hotter than normal, between 0.5 and 1.5 ºC above the average summer temperatures across most of the country. Orange warnings replace red ones in Córdoba and Sevilla and yellow warnings will still be in place across many parts of the rest of Andalusia. The hot weather is expected to continue into the first two weeks of August before the rains and summer storms bring cooler spells towards the end of the month.
READ ALSO: Is Spain’s suffocating heatwave finally ending?
Spanish Parliament closes until autumn, with dozens of key laws pending
The Spanish Parliament will be shutting down for August, with many key members on holiday. However, there are still many laws that are still in the pipeline and have yet to be approved. One of these is the Housing Law, which has been awaiting approval for more than a year and still hasn’t been ratified due to disagreements between PSOE and Unidas Podemos.
There is still pending legislation on prostitution, abortion and new taxes for banks and electricity companies, which will now not be sorted until the autumn.
Despite this, the Spanish government has passed more than 20 laws since January which include the labour reform, the waste law, and changes to pension plans.
A deal on UK licences in August after failure to reach agreement in July as promised?
At the end of June, British Ambassador to Spain Hugh Elliott said that a driving licence deal would be “likely by the end of July”. “The UK and Spain are now in agreement on the core issues that have been problematic and we’re now very close to finalising the actual text of the agreement,” he said in a statement.
It’s now the end of July and still, no deal has been reached, meaning those with British licences are still not able to drive in Spain.
The British Embassy in Madrid posted an update on their Facebook page last week saying: “We are committed to getting this through the UK and Spanish systems quickly, however, as we’ve said before, we cannot make any guarantees”.
“We have sought assurances from the Spanish government that we can continue negotiating in August if needs be. On the UK side, we have a full team available to cover this negotiation over the summer because it is a top priority for us,” they continued.
August public holiday in Spain
August 15th is a public holiday across Spain, meaning that anyone not already on holiday will be able to take one on this day. It celebrates the Day of the Assumption of the Virgen.
Output Operation for August
Output Operation or the ‘great exodus’ refers to the days when millions leave the cities and head to the coasts or the mountains for their summer holidays in August. It typically brings traffic jams and chaos on the roads. This year, the worst days are expected to be the weekend of July 30th and 31st, just before the start of August.
According to Spain’s traffic authority (DGT) 67 percent of the routes will go to the Mediterranean coast and to the south of Spain, with 20 percent to Valencia and surroundings, 24 percent to Castilla La Mancha and the northern part of Andalusia and 23 percent to the Andalusian coast.
The roads will clog up again around August 15th which is a national holiday across Spain and then the return journey on Saturday, August 27th and Sunday, August 28th, which will see the biggest number of cars on the roads returning to the cities.