Anyone travelling out to Spain for their holidays next month might be better off packing a few things as they go because there’s set to be a strike that could leave hotels without sheets and towels in rooms.
In the Balearic Islands, there could be problems in hotels starting from 1 August, if the dispute can’t be resolved through talks.
The union that represents laundry workers on the Spanish islands have suggested that they could walk out indefinitely from the start of next month in a dispute over pay and conditions.
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So far, they’ve been offered an increase of around £17.25 – in euros, obviously – which would take them up to around £950 per month.
But they’re not satisfied with that, so want a further increase to their salaries, as well as looking for two consecutive days off within the working week as a guarantee.
A lot of places in Ibiza reportedly do their own laundry in house, so they might not be so badly affected but loads of places on Menorca and Mallorca could be left in the lurch if a solution to the industrial dispute can’t be found by 7:00am next Tuesday.
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Hotels will be the places that are hardest hit, because the CCOO Habitat Balearas union will have to provide at least a minimum service to places like hospitals where their work is essential.
If the industrial action goes ahead, union general secretary Miguel Pardo said: "It could be disastrous for tourism.
"It’s going to affect hotels full-on.
“There won’t be sheets or towels."
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There are around 1,500 workers involved in the dispute, and they’ll all be putting down their tools in hotels unless last-minute talks can find a solution that suits everyone enough to make an agreement.
On top of the wages and guarantees on consecutive days off, the workers also want extra pay for working at night and improvements when it comes to regulated rest time, too.
Pardo claims that workers are being exploited and are leaving to get other jobs.
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The union has described the two days off as a ‘red line’.
The Balearic Islands are the most visited part of Spain by tourists, with 26 percent made up of tourists from Britain, second only to Germany with 28 percent.
So far, the hotels associations have yet to comment on the potential strike, which unions say could be ‘disastrous’.
It also remains to be seen if an agreement can be reached before that 1 August deadline.
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If not, tourists might have to find an alternative way to get towels and sheets in their hotel.
Tom Wood