Spain Baggage Strikes Slow Airport Hubs For Ryanair

Published on Dec 1, 2025, 1:32 pm CST

9 min read

Key points

Spain baggage handler strikes at Azul Handling run from August 15 to December 31, 2025 with 76 planned strike days
Walkouts hit baggage staff at major Ryanair Group bases including Madrid, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Malaga, Alicante, Valencia, Girona, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Santiago de Compostela, Seville and Tenerife South
Strike windows are set for 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays
Ryanair says Spanish minimum service rules should limit cancellations but advisers still expect longer queues and delayed bags at key hubs
Baggage only strikes can still trigger missed connections, late night waits at carousels and problems for travelers checking sports gear or cruise luggage
Travelers can reduce risk by traveling hand luggage only when possible, padding connections at Spanish hubs and considering alternate airports or carriers for time critical trips

Impact

Where Impacts Are Most Likely: Expect the longest queues and baggage delays at Adolfo Suarez Madrid Barajas Airport, Josep Tarradellas Barcelona El Prat Airport, Palma de Mallorca Airport and Malaga Costa del Sol Airport during strike windows
Best Times To Fly: Early afternoon gaps outside the 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. stop period or off peak days on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays are likely to be less affected
Connections And Misconnect Risk: Allow at least three hours for domestic to international connections through Spanish Ryanair hubs and avoid separate tickets when checking bags
What Travelers Should Do Now: Check if your flights use Azul Handling stations, switch to hand luggage only where possible, move tight connections off strike days and monitor airline and airport alerts
Checked Bags And Special Items: Travelers with sports equipment, medical gear or cruise luggage should consider courier options, route via non Azul airports or shift to airlines using other handlers

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Spain baggage handler strikes linked to Ryanair Group contractor Azul Handling are set to shadow flights at Adolfo Suarez Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD), Josep Tarradellas Barcelona El Prat Airport (BCN), Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI), Malaga Costa del Sol Airport (AGP), Valencia Airport (VLC), Alicante Elche Miguel Hernandez Airport (ALC), and a cluster of other Spanish hubs from August 15 through December 31, 2025. Passengers using these airports, especially on Ryanair and other carriers that rely on Azul, face a higher baseline risk of slow check in, delayed bags, and knock on departure queues on strike days. Travelers with tight winter itineraries should build in longer connections, consider hand luggage only, and keep backup plans for critical trips.

At its core, the Spain baggage handler strikes mean that Azul Handling ground staff who service Ryanair and other Ryanair Group airlines will keep staging repeated walkouts at key Spanish airports, which can delay baggage loading and unloading even when most flights still operate.

How The Strike Pattern Works

The dispute began in August, when unions including the General Union of Workers, UGT, and CGT called nationwide industrial action at Azul Handling over what they describe as precarious contracts, forced overtime, and breaches of labor agreements. After an initial strike phase over the August long weekend, the action was extended into a rolling pattern that runs from August 15 to December 31, 2025, covering 76 separate strike days.

The timetable is designed to hit the busiest parts of each operating day. Official notices and airport advisories describe three daily stoppage windows on strike dates, from 500 a.m. to 900 a.m., from 1200 p.m. to 300 p.m., and from 900 p.m. to 1159 p.m. The walkouts apply every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through New Year s Eve, a pattern that clips early departures, lunchtime waves, and late evening returns at the very times short haul low cost networks usually run hardest.

Because the strikes focus on baggage and ramp staff, most timetables still show flights as operating, at least on paper. However, Spanish minimum service rules require a skeleton operation rather than a full shutdown, and unions accuse both Azul Handling and Ryanair of using those minimums aggressively, which can leave a small core team trying to process near normal volumes. That is the recipe for slow moving check in lines, long waits for outbound bag loading, and late arriving luggage at the carousel even when flights avoid outright cancellation.

Which Airports Are Most Exposed

Azul Handling covers Ryanair Group operations at many of the carrier s largest Spanish bases, which means the strike footprint stretches across both mainland and island gateways. Advisory lists and airline briefings typically highlight Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Alicante, and Valencia as anchor airports, with Girona, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, and Tenerife South also within the core network.

In practice, the impact will not be limited to Ryanair alone. Azul staff handle baggage for Ryanair Group carriers such as Ryanair, Lauda, and Malta Air, but knock on effects can spill onto shared airport infrastructure. When queues at a bank of Azul desks overflow into common concourse space, or bags stack up on limited belt capacity, neighboring airlines that use different handlers can still see slower flows through check in halls and shared baggage halls.

Madrid and Barcelona matter because they combine heavy local demand with waves of connections for Northern European city breaks and winter sun trips. Palma de Mallorca and Malaga are heavily seasonal leisure gateways that feed holiday traffic and second home flows, with many visitors checking bulky luggage. Alicante, Valencia, and Girona play a similar role for Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol, and Catalan coastal stays. Tenerife South, Lanzarote, Ibiza, Santiago, and Seville add a spread of island and city break destinations that all see peaks around Christmas and New Year.

Why Baggage Strikes Still Threaten Flights

On paper, a baggage only strike sounds less serious than a full pilot or cabin crew walkout. In reality, baggage and ramp delays can ripple into the timetable quickly. When outbound bags are late to the aircraft, flights can miss their departure slots, especially at slot constrained hubs. When inbound bags take an extra hour to reach the carousel, passengers with onward connections or tight train links may miss their next leg even if the aircraft arrived roughly on time.

Data from previous baggage and handler disputes in Europe suggest that the first casualties are often early morning departures that depart with baggage delayed or offloaded, followed by midday rotations that struggle to make up time, and late evening flights that slip further behind as crews run up against duty time constraints. For a point to point carrier such as Ryanair, a missed early turn at Barcelona or Madrid can cascade through multiple later sectors touching airports far from Spain.

There is also a quality of life angle for travelers. Waiting ninety minutes at the carousel after a two or three hour sector can erase the time savings of flying at all, especially for trips that connect into buses, trains, or rental car pickups with limited hours. Families with young children, travelers with mobility needs, or passengers carrying medication or essential clothes in their checked baggage face a disproportionate burden when luggage delays stretch into the night.

Ryanair s Message Versus On The Ground Risk

Ryanair has publicly downplayed the impact of the Azul Handling strike, arguing that Spain s minimum service requirements allow it to operate a full schedule and that only a minority of Azul staff have joined the walkouts. Local reporting from airports such as Alicante Elche Miguel Hernandez, however, describes visible queues, some delayed flights, and moderate baggage waits on peak strike days, even if operations did not collapse.

For travelers, the truth likely sits between those extremes. The strike is unlikely to shut down Madrid or Barcelona outright, but the combination of repeated strike windows, concentrated weekend action, and holiday season volumes makes it reasonable to assume a background level of friction for the rest of 2025. In that environment, travelers who plan as if everything will run perfectly are more likely to be caught out than those who add cushion and keep essentials out of the hold.

Practical Strategies For Winter And Holiday Trips

The single most powerful way to blunt the impact of Spain baggage handler strikes is to avoid checking a bag when you can. For short breaks and many week long winter sun trips, careful packing into a compliant cabin bag plus a personal item will remove you from the most fragile part of the airport system.

If you must check luggage, build slack into your itinerary. Aim for at least a three hour layover on itineraries that connect through Madrid, Barcelona, Palma, Malaga, Alicante, Valencia, or Tenerife South on strike days, and avoid separate tickets that require you to recheck bags or clear security again. For cruise departures from Barcelona or Malaga, consider flying in at least one day early so that a lost or delayed bag has time to catch up before the ship sails.

Travelers with sports equipment, medical devices, or oversize luggage should be especially cautious. Consider shipping critical items ahead by courier to your hotel, ski rental shop, or cruise terminal, particularly for time sensitive trips like ski weeks or expedition cruises. If that is not practical, look at routings via airports where Ryanair uses different handlers or via alternate carriers entirely, even if the base fare is slightly higher.

On the ground, monitor both official and third party information channels. Check airport websites and social feeds for local advisories, and keep an eye on flight tracking apps for emerging delay patterns on your travel dates. A cluster of early morning delays at Palma or Alicante is a strong signal that baggage and ramp teams are stretched and that later flights out of those airports may also suffer.

Background: Who Is Azul Handling

Azul Handling is a ground services company that sits within the Ryanair Group and provides baggage, ramp, and related services to Ryanair and its affiliates at Spanish airports. Reports suggest the company employs more than 3,000 workers and handles hundreds of Ryanair flights daily across Spain, which explains why a targeted strike can have outsized effects even though Azul is not a household name for travelers.

Unions say the dispute centers on pay levels, unstable contracts, and what they describe as coercive use of additional hours and disciplinary sanctions, as well as alleged breaches of court rulings and limits on union activity. Azul and Ryanair reject that framing and insist that the company has already signed a collective agreement with another union and can maintain service levels under Spanish minimum service obligations.

For travelers, the details of Spanish labor law matter less than the practical bottom line. Until Azul and its unions reach a new arrangement, Spain baggage handler strikes will remain baked into the flight planning picture for Ryanair passengers and anyone else passing through the affected terminals.

How To Decide If You Should Reroute

Whether to reroute or stick with existing plans depends on your risk tolerance and the nature of the trip. For a flexible long weekend in Barcelona or Seville where a delayed bag is an annoyance rather than a crisis, it may make sense to keep an attractive low fare and simply move essentials into carry on. For once in a decade cruise sailings, destination weddings, or medical trips where a missed connection or lost suit bag would be catastrophic, a more conservative routing via non Azul airports, or with airlines using other handlers, is easier to justify.

Either way, building some slack into your schedule and keeping critical items with you will do more for your peace of mind than refreshing social media for the latest union statement or airline comment. Spain baggage handler strikes are now a structural feature of the late 2025 landscape rather than a one off weekend disruption, so it makes sense to plan around them.