Strike threat to Spanish holidays

Thousands of Britons could suffer holiday chaos as tourist industry workers in Spain threaten to go on strike in two weeks.

Chambermaids, waiters and chefs are among up to 100,000 people who will not be turning up to work if the stand-off between trade unions and employers is not resolved.

The industrial action would hit popular resorts on the Costa del Sol, Majorca and Ibiza.

The 25 July strike on the Costa del Sol would last four days and be followed by three other stoppages of two or three days each ending on 22 August, the middle of the peak season.

Resorts such as Fuengirola, Torremolinos and Marbella, will be packed with Britons at that time. Of the nearly 50million holidaymakers visiting Spain each year, Britons make up 34.5 per cent.

In some areas, such as the Balearics, the percentage is far greater, and a similar strike has been called for Majorca, Ibiza and the rest of the Balearic islands starting on 26 July for a total of nine days leading up to 18 August.

Tour operators say the proposed strike could lead to people cancelling holidays.

The strikes are being called by the two biggest unions in Spain, the General Workers' Union and the Workers' Commissions. Employers say they will not bend to union demands not to subcontract cleaning services at hotels as a way of getting around pay deals.

The strikes could not come at a worse time for the Spanish economy. Germans and Britons, who between them make up almost two-thirds of the country's visitors, are already staying away in droves, causing the tourist industry to flag seriously for the first time since the Sixties.