Ouigo drivers plan six strike days around the autumn long weekends. Credit: Andrei Antipov / Shutterstock
Passengers who’ve snapped up cheap Ouigo seats for the November and December long weekends could be left scrambling for another way to travel, as the company’s drivers call six strike days timed around the holiday bridges. The first walkout is on Friday October 30, hitting routes from Madrid and Barcelona to Alicante, Málaga, Murcia and Sevilla.
Two full-day strikes and four partial ones
The Sindicato de Maquinistas Semaf (Spain’s train drivers’ union), which represents most of Ouigo’s roughly 100 drivers, has called full 24-hour stoppages on Friday October 30 and Monday November 2, either side of the All Saints’ Day weekend.
Four partial strikes are then planned for Friday November 6, Monday November 9, Friday December 4 and Tuesday December 8, with drivers due to stop work between 6am and noon and again from 6pm until midnight.
Ouigo runs high-speed services to and from 15 destinations in Spain, including Madrid, Barcelona, Tarragona, Valencia, Alicante, Elche, Murcia, Albacete, Cuenca, Zaragoza, Valladolid, Segovia, Sevilla, Córdoba and Málaga, so thousands of passengers could be caught up in the strikes.
Why the long weekend dates matter
This year All Saints’ Day (November 1) falls on a Sunday, so Madrid, Andalucía, Castilla-La Mancha and several other regions are moving the holiday to Monday November 2. That gives millions a three-day weekend starting on the same Friday the first strike hits, with the second landing on the day they would head home.
November 9 is the Almudena holiday in the city of Madrid, which puts the November 6 and 9 stoppages right on top of another long weekend for the capital’s residents.
Then in December, Constitution Day on Sunday December 6 moves to Monday December 7 in regions including Madrid, Andalucía and Murcia, and with Tuesday December 8 a national holiday, many will be enjoying a four-day break bookended by the December 4 and 8 strikes.
For plenty of travellers, the appeal of Ouigo has always been that the high speed rail company is usually cheaper than most of their competitors. Now they’ll have to check whether their train is running at all.
Drivers say rosters are leaving them exhausted
Semaf accuses Ouigo of repeated and systematic breaches of the company’s collective agreement (the deal setting drivers’ pay and conditions) on shifts, rest days and overtime. It said drivers are working excessive hours on abusive shifts without enough rest, while also facing obstacles to taking holidays, long stretches of nights away from home and work before and after each service not being counted as working time. Union secretary general Diego Martín said the company was fixing its own organisational failings at the expense of drivers’ rest, health and free time, “refusing to set fair rosters or to compensate the excess hours they themselves create”.
The agreement was signed in June 2024 and runs until the end of 2027, and it isn’t the first time it’s sparked a row either. Semaf called strikes at Ouigo in 2025, only to call them off that June once a deal was reached.
Ouigo says it’s ready to keep talking
Ouigo, which is owned by French state railway SNCF, said it respects the right to strike and every condition in the 2024 agreement, and that disagreements over how it’s interpreted have been handled through ongoing talks with workers’ representatives.
It said it’s “fully willing” to continue those talks in the coming days to reach a deal that works for both sides, and that it will keep customers updated through its usual channels.
What to do if you’ve already booked
Minimum services (the share of trains the government orders to keep running during a strike) haven’t been set yet. However, during February’s nationwide rail strike, the Ministry of Transport ordered 73 per cent of high-speed and long-distance services to run, Ouigo’s included. In that strike, Ouigo labelled each train on its website as running or cancelled, and passengers whose train was cancelled could claim a full refund or switch to another departure at no extra cost.
So anyone holding a Ouigo ticket for October 30, November 2, 6 or 9, or December 4 or 8 should keep a close eye on their email and the Ouigo app over the coming weeks, as that’s where any cancellation will show up first.