Stevedores Strike at Spanish Ports

Our offices in Spain have recently advised us of issues occurring at the ports of Barcelona and Valencia. Specifically, the longshoremen at main terminals have slowed down their productivity, causing vessel operations delays as well as long wait times to pick up/deliver containers at the terminals. Now, there has been an official announcement of a Stevedoring Strike that will affect all the Spanish ports on February 20th, 22nd, and 24th.

The strike is to manifest the longshoremen's non-conformity with the draft Royal Decree Law that the government of Spain is preparing, which will change the current working conditions of the stowage sector.

Fortunately, the official stoppage will be partial; on strike days the stevedores will be working one hour on and one hour off.

However, the slowing of port operations has already begun, and some vessels have already cancelled their calls to Spanish ports due to congestion. It is predictable that this situation will worsen in the coming weeks.