500 PortAventura workers demonstrate outside theme park with 80% strike participation, unions say

PortAventura workers are striking on Saturday to demand improved working conditions and a new collective bargaining agreement. 

Around 500 theme park workers gathered at one of the employee entrances on Saturday morning.

Paco López, general secretary of the UGT trade union PortAventura section, said that the strike will have support from around 80% of workers.

He described the fact that the amusement park opened today as "reckless."

"The park will make a fool of itself," he said, adding that the amount of employees working today "will not be able to serve customers properly."

López also lamented that it is customers "who will be the most damaged today."

A new workers assembly is scheduled for this Saturday morning where new actions and mobilizations will be proposed.

Strike

PortAventura has halted ticket sales and hotel bookings for Easter Saturday, coinciding with a strike called by workers on April 19.

The park will still open its doors to the public although it has announced that it "cannot ensure" the quality of service and that it "respects the fundamental rights of its workers to go on strike."

"The process of negotiation will continue until we reach an understanding that benefits both parties, as it has happened on previous occasions," the park's management said, although the general secretary of the UGT trade union section in the company, Paco López, does not believe there will be an agreement between workers and management before Saturday.

Earlier this week, PortAventura workers announced they were maintaining their planned strike, after mediation last week "failed," as the positions of both sides were still "very far apart," López told the Catalan News Agency (ACN). 

López also pointed out that there will be no minimum services on the day of the strike and that park visitors may have "difficulties" in buying food or enjoying rides. He, however, also said that they will respect if any worker wants to work, and that they will not ban access to the park.

Dispute

PortAventura workers agreed to go on strike after several meetings with the company to renew their working agreement, which expired on December 31, 2024, ended without a new deal. 

Staff are calling for a "dignified" agreement with salary increases, as the UGT PortAventura union claims that 65% of workers are earning minimum wage.

According to the labor union, workers are just asking for more transparency from the amusement park management and for the management issues to be solved. They claim schedules, resting hours, or even transportation options to go to work.

The minimum wage is around €15,000; however, most workers "work between five and nine months per year, meaning that they only receive €8,000, €10,000 or €12,000," López said.

Workers also do not rule out extending their strike beyond April 19.

Infractions

One day before a planned strike, the UGT trade union published on Friday a list of 27 sanctions, warnings, and requirements issued by the Catalan government to the company.

Of the list, 15 are infractions, five are warnings and seven are requirements, and union representatives say that the list demonstrates that the theme park does not respect workers' rights.

The general secretary of the union section at the company, Paco López, said that this list is only a sample of the issues that applies generally to the entire workforce between 2010 and 2024, but among individual workers there have been many more issues.

The statement comes the day before the strike called by the UGT and CCOO unions in which they demand salary and workplace improvements, only the third strike in the theme park's 30 years of history.

The unions have stated that they will "respect the rights of people to strike and to work." 

The list provided by UGT details the case number and the reason for the infraction that issued by the Department of Labor of the Catalan government.

According to the union, the infractions include excessive working hours not recognized or paid, failure to comply with rest periods, exposure to serious or very serious psychosocial factors, violation of dignity, or violation of the rights of information of the workers' representatives, among others.