CHAOS may strike Brits’ summer holiday plans as a major Spanish airport could be “paralysed” by staff protests.

Palma airport in Majorca is being targeted by furious staff who are threatening to bring it to a standstill on July 25th for four hours.

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Staff have slammed “suffocating” working conditions there and are set to down tools as part of a strike by members of the UGT trade union.

Workers say they have their rights “abused” with “inhumane” work shifts, including stolen holidays, mistreatment, and no career progression.

They also say they’re given the wrong clothing for the hot summer temperatures on the island.

They’re not given rain coast for the rain and say their uniforms don’t “respect their dignity”.

Now they’re preparing to “paralyse” the airport threatening Brit holidaymakers with flight cancellation and delays.

Summer holidays begin next Thursday for most and many kids and their parents will be taking a hard earned break to the holiday hotspot.

The workers have accused some of the best known aviation companies of treating them badly, including: Jet2, Ryanair, easyJet, Swissport, Eurowings, and Menzies.

Staff have also taken aim at what they see if endless improvements at the airport.

They say the construction zone is bad for their health and also say it poses a risk to safety.

The UGT is also demanding free parking for workers and the opening of a new cafeteria with cheap prices.

Workers are pinning the airport operator Aena responsible for the shortcoming and said if it doesn’t make sure demands are met the “tone of the protest” will be raised.

The Balearic government last week demanded urgent action over the airport after admitting “the accumulation of incidents” is doing nothing for its tourism reputation.

Officials say delays, cancellations and overbooking at Palma airport in Mallorca are causing a growing volume of complaints and “generate widespread discomfort and project a very negative image of the islands.”

They have also complained about long waits at security controls and the continuing works at the airport, together with the “collapse in accesses and transit areas.”

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Its the latest Spanish curveball hitting Brits holidays this summer with fuming locals also protesting.

Fuming locals are pushing back against what they see as “overtourism” by squirting holidaymakers with water guns.

Campaigners blame excessive levels of tourism for forcing locals out of affordable housing, raising the cost of living and making the city centres unusable.

Protests across Spain last month saw thousands take to the street and demand their cities “back”.

Around 100 noisy activists banging drums surrounded upmarket eatery Cappuccino Borne next to a McDonald’s in the centre of Palma after their protest finished.

Police moved in to ease tension as the demonstrators held up cardboard posters reading: “As You Come I Have To Go.”

Strikes are also ongoing in Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca with hospitality staff stopping work.

They’re also part of the UGT union and are demanding higher wages and fewer hours.

FOR anyone travelling across Spain, there is a clever hack to get train journeys for free.

Trainline has revealed a handy tip on how to travel through parts of Spain for absolutely nothing this summer.

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To get journeys for free, visitors can buy a combined Cercanías ticket, which is called the Combinado Cercanías in Spanish.

The ticket essentially is included free of charge with tickets for some long-distance trains – these are run by Renfe and include AVE trains.

Travellers who have already bought a long-distance ticket won’t need to buy another one to take a connecting local train as it is free with the combined Cercanías ticket.

The only condition is that you travel within four hours of when the booked train departs or leaves.

So if you’re heading into the likes of Madrid or Barcelona by train, you will need to buy an actual ticket.

But from there, if you want to head out of the city to see mountains, lakes and other more tourist-free areas, you can do so by using the secondary and free ticket.

Sarah Helppi, UK Country Director at Trainline, added: “This nifty feature means that in many cities you can get to the train station where your journey starts, or onto another location when you’ve reached your final stop, completely free of charge.

“For those keen to explore Spain, it means you can go beyond the main tourist hubs without the need to spend more.”

You don’t have to faff around with printed tickets either as you can get a PDF on your phone – which you can do on the Trainline app.

If you want to buy a physical ticket, you can input the 5-digit code on the ticket into a ticket machine on the Cercanías train station platform.

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This will print out the Combinado Cercanías ticket so you don’t have to worry about your phone running out of charge.

Here are some of the best ways to see Spain via train, according to Trainline.

You can reach Madrid on high-speed trains from the cities of Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Malaga and Toleda.

One Sun Travel writer visited Madrid last year where they discovered amazing art galleries, swanky bars and £22 flights.

To then explore out of the city, hop on the Madrid Cercanías train network where you can go out into the Guadarrama Mountains.

Up there, there’s a medieval monastery and traditional restaurants.

From Seville, you can pick up a commuter Cercanias train from Santa Justa station.

That will take you out to the hill towns of the Sierra Norte, Aljarafe, Dos Hermanos and Utrera.

Have a look before you travel at train routes and where a free ticket out of the city can get you for your next holiday.

Sun Travel’s favourite train journeys in the world

Sun Travel’s journalists have taken their fare share of train journeys on their travels and here they share their most memorable rail experiences.

Davos to Geneva, Switzerland

“After a ski holiday in Davos, I took the scenic train back to Geneva Airport. The snow-covered mountains and tiny alpine villages that we passed were so beautiful that it felt like a moving picture was playing beyond the glass.” – Caroline McGuire

Tokyo to Kyoto by Shinkansen

“Nothing quite beats the Shinkansen bullet train, one of the fastest in the world. It hardly feels like you’re whizzing along at speed until you look outside and see the trees a green blur. Make sure to book seat D or E too – as you’ll have the best view of Mount Fuji along the way.” Kara Godfrey

London to Paris by Eurostar

“Those who have never travelled on the Eurostar may wonder what’s so special about a seemingly ordinary train that takes you across the channel. You won’t have to waste a moment and can tick off all the top attractions from the Louvre to the Champs-Élysées which are both less than five kilometres from the Gare du Nord.” – Sophie Swietochowski

Glasgow to Fort William by Scotrail

“From mountain landscapes and serene lochs to the wistful moors, I spent my three-hour journey from Glasgow to Fort William gazing out the window. Sit on the left-hand side of the train for the best views overlooking Loch Lomond.” – Hope Brotherton

Beijing to Ulaanbatar

“The Trans-Mongolian Express is truly a train journey like no other. It starts amid the chaos of central Beijing before the city’s high-rises give way to crumbling ancient villages and eventually the vast vacant plains of Mongolia, via the Gobi desert. The deep orange sunset seen in the middle of the desert is among the best I’ve witnessed anywhere.” – Ryan Gray

Before you go, check all the travel rules in Spain, from where to wear bikinis to beach games.

And from someone who visits Spain at least 8 times a year – here’s how to avoid the common tourist mistakes that cost you money.

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A longtime business owner in Hay River, N.W.T., is raising concerns about a new government-funded building going up at the town’s main beach, a place she says has become mostly unusable after floods and fires in recent years.

The territory’s Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment says that the new facility will replace a beach attendant building destroyed in the 2022 flood. The new structure will be a lifeguard station and picnic shelter, with a stronger foundation to handle future flooding.

But Jane Groenewegen, who owns Harbour House, a guesthouse just across from the beach, says she was shocked to see construction begin last week without any public notice or signs explaining what was going on.

“We didn’t see anything posted. And we’re down here quite often,” she said. “Whenever there’s a development, there’s usually a 90-day appeal period where people can comment on what’s proposed.”

Groenewegen said she’s frustrated that there was no opportunity for public input, especially since many other tourism-related sites in the community still need to be repaired after flooding and fire damage.

She said that while the new building may replace something that was lost, it’s the wrong time and the wrong place for it. She also doesn’t understand why the territory chose a location that has already seen serious flood damage.

“Who asked for this? Yes, it’s replacing something, but the timing is off. The beach is a disaster,” she said. “The beach is just kind of a swamp now that goes from one end to the other.”

Groenewegen said the flooding dramatically changed the landscape. The shoreline has receded, and the sand is now overgrown with poisonous vegetation, such as water hemlock. Dead trees still line the campground.

She said the beach isn’t the only area that still needs attention. At Twin Falls Territorial Park, a major tourist attraction located just outside Hay River, the trails and stairs to the falls remain uncleared since the 2023 wildfires, leaving the site in a rough state and unsafe for visitors.

“Our government always says they’re so hard up … they got no money for capital projects,” she said. “But they got [money] for something that nobody asked for.”

‘We’ve had our difficulties’

Darrell Dean, who owns Castaways Cottages and Campground on the other side of town, says the new building going up at the beach isn’t a top concern for him, but he agrees that there are more urgent priorities in the community that the territory should address first.

“I’d rather see them spend their money cleaning the beach up, because nobody’s going to go there to stay in a swamp,” he said. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”

Dean says he’s still trying to recover from the wildfires that burned through his site in 2023, destroying trees, campers, and four cabins.

“We’ve been hit with a couple years of COVID, and then … a couple years of flood and then a forest fire. So we’ve had our difficulties,” he said.

Dean said his campground wasn’t insured when the fire hit, because there are no fire hydrants in the area, and coverage has become increasingly complex and expensive to get. Without insurance, he had to cover the cost of replacing everything himself.

On top of that, he says one of the biggest challenges he faces is competing with the territorial-run campground, which offers amenities like wi-fi in certain areas, power hookups, and lower rates. He says private operators like himself can’t match those prices. 

“We can’t afford to put that kind of money on infrastructure and then charge that little amount of money,” Dean said. “The going rate down south … is anywhere from $60 to $125 a night to stay in a campground. We’re well below par on the rates.”

For Dean, offering basic services like power is not financially feasible. He estimates it would cost around $150,000 to install electricity at his campground.

Dean said that the territory’s infrastructure department has supported him with funding in the past, but large-scale upgrades, such as power installations, remain out of reach for private operators, and he’s not aware of any funding program that could cover such high costs.

“[The territory] should be investing money in local tour operators, I think, because it’s a plus for everybody,” he said.

Ongoing municipal issues don’t help either, he said. His road often isn’t plowed or graded, and a flood-damaged culvert still hasn’t been properly fixed, making it hard for large campers to reach the site. He says it took over a decade of complaints to get consistent road maintenance.