Spain braces for rail strike on one of the busiest days of the year

SPAIN’S railway workers are going on strike on Friday (July 28), one of the busiest days of the year, as millions begin their summer holidays.

The last Friday of July is traditionally the start of the holidays for many Spaniards, bringing with it traffic jams heading towards the coast, and now chaos at train stations.

Renfe has cancelled 274 trains as the strike is scheduled to last from midnight on Thursday until 11pm on Friday.

The long distance train service has promised to run a minimum service of 77 per cent while regional routes will only operate at 65 per cent service.

Cercanias routes are expecting to run at 75 per cent during rush hours but only 50 per cent of trains will run the rest of the day.

The Ministry of Transport has published details of the expected services on Friday (in Spanish).

The CGT trade union said they called the strike after negotiations broke down between the union and Renfe and Adif.

In a public statement, CGT said: “The reasons that have led us to call this strike are not new, but the result of continued lack of response to collective fears over the uncertain future of the railways as a public service.”