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Anyone planning a long weekend away by train this autumn could face disruption, as Ouigo's train drivers have called six days of strikes spread across October, November and December.

 

According to the train drivers' union SEMAF, the first two will be full 24-hour stoppages on Friday October 30 and Monday November 2, which could affect the All Saints' Day long weekend. Partial strikes will follow on November 6 and 9, around Madrid's Almudena long weekend, and on December 4 and 8, which will hit the Constitution Day long weekend.

 

On those four days the roughly 100 drivers working for the French operator will walk out between 6am and midday and again from 6pm until midnight.

 

SEMAF warned that the action will affect thousands of high-speed passengers travelling to and from the 15 destinations Ouigo serves, namely Madrid, Barcelona, Tarragona, Valencia, Alicante, Elche, Zaragoza, Albacete, Cuenca, Valladolid, Segovia, Murcia, Seville, Málaga and Córdoba.

 

The union explained that the strike is a direct response to what it called repeated and systematic breaches of the collective agreement on shifts and working hours. Drivers complain of excessive hours that leave them fatigued, with on-call shifts overused and the resulting overtime going uncompensated. They also pointed to obstacles to taking holidays, long and unjustified nights spent away from home and a lack of transparency in how shifts are handed out, as well as the company's refusal to count essential tasks before and after a service as working time.

 

In the drivers' words, it amounts to "a direct attack on work-life balance".

 

For its part, Ouigo said it fully respects the right to strike but stands by the agreement signed in 2024, acknowledging "interpretive differences" that it's been working through with the works council in continuous dialogue and is willing to continue. The company added that it will keep passengers informed of any disruption through its usual channels, so anyone travelling to or from Murcia, Alicante or Elche on the affected dates should keep an eye out for updates.

 

 

 

Image: Ouigo