Spain holiday update as massive hotel strike spells chaos for British holidaymakers

A has been planned for the Balearic Islands in peak Summer, spelling chaos for British tourists. Workers in Majorca, Ibiza and Menorca are set to stage mass walkouts on June 6 followed by several days of strike action in July, unless a deal can be struck.

Organisers of the strikes, workers' union UGT, said there had not been enough progress for their demands of better pay and working conditions. They reportedly intend to cause as much disruption as possible to holidays, and urged hotels to do everything within their power to prevent it.

On June 6, crowds are expected to meet at the UGT headquarters in for an assembly where attendees will be updated on the progress of the negotiations, before a rally at noon outside the Mallorcan Hotel Federation.

Another rally is scheduled for the end of June in front of the local hotel association headquarters in Platja de Palma, a major tourist area.

The union hopes to add another similar protest in the Palmanova-Magaluf area in the main tourist centre in the Bay of Palma.

According to local newspaper, Diario de Mallorca, further action is earmarked for July.

A UGT official said: "If we don't see the possibility of an agreement in principle, we will call a strike lasting several days."

The union has complained of a lack of access to decent housing, tourist saturation, growing workloads and standstill salaries.

It is the hospitality sector's largest union and it is attempting to renegotiate the Collective Agreement of the Balearic hotel industry.

General secretary of UGT-Services on the islands, José García Relucio, said that very little had been agreed so far - other than that the new agreement will apply for three years.

With few signs of an imminent consensus, union chiefs decided on Wednesday to begin mobilising strike plans.

Another union the CCOO (Working Council of Workers) has been invited to join in.

Thousands of hotel workers already walked out earlier this year on May 1.