Both container terminals at Algeciras stopped regular loading and discharge from 2:00 on 11 November to 2:00 on 12 November, according to port figures relayed by El Estrecho Digital. That was the Spain port strike at its peak. By the next morning, the unions and APM Terminals were describing the same day in different words.
Who counted what
The unions CCOO and UGT put port-sector participation at around 90%. Manuel Triano, CCOO’s regional secretary, said every dockworker in Algeciras stayed out. In Valencia, the union’s maritime representative Francisco Martínez told reporters: “There are no workers available, and there are no vessel operations.”
APM Terminals gave The Loadstar another account. Minimum service levels set by the Spanish Ministry and port authorities were fully met, its spokesperson said, and in Algeciras “there was no participation in the strike by APMT employees or contractors.” The limited disruption, it said, came from weather restrictions announced earlier for Campo de Gibraltar.
The weather was real. Storm Charles kept the Algeciras self-protection plan in force that day.
El Estrecho Digital reports that the Port of Algeciras suspended activity at both its container terminals, APM Terminals Algeciras and TTI Algeciras, for the 24 hours. The same article says the operating companies did not call in staff for regular loading and unloading, anticipating that the equipment would not be available. APM Terminals told The Loadstar that vessel operations were scheduled around the strike, and that all terminals were operating normally again. Neither a union turnout figure nor an operator’s statement on its own staff says how many boxes moved on 11 November.
What sat at anchor
Ship positions added a data point. The Loadstar’s report of 12 November found AIS data showing the 1,072 teu Contship Zen still at anchor off Valencia on the night after the strike, with berthing expected next morning. The 20,124 teu Ever Gifted also seemed to be waiting there, though the paper notes its reason for being there may not be attributable to the labour action, even if it hinders efforts to clear the backlog. Off Algeciras, the CMA CGM Tiga, which anchored in the early hours of 11 November, was seemingly awaiting a berth after slow approaches.
One forwarder told The Loadstar the strike had “zero” impact on its operations.
The paper could not size the backlog. Terminal operators did not answer its requests for numbers, and the size depends on how fast terminals regain normal productivity and whether carriers rolled cargo or changed rotations. A published schedule does not say whether a ship is at anchor or alongside. AIS positions do, and Navo’s container tracking has 2,700+ vessels on file.
Trucks stalled although most hauliers worked
Road figures came with their own split. The international hauliers’ association ASTIC said 99% of drivers at member companies kept working. Protests affected about 80 roads across Catalonia, with combined queues peaking near 100 km, according to the regional traffic authority, while trans.info reports that traffic entering the Barcelona ring roads fell by 51%.
At Tarragona, the Port Authority counted 40 trucks entering between midnight and 14:00, against 1,586 a year earlier. Heavy vehicles leaving fell from 1,417 to nine. Barcelona suspended cargo handling that needs dockworkers, and with it the customs inspections at the terminals tied to that work.
Rail took a hit. Renfe Mercancías cancelled 25 of the 38 freight trains scheduled for the night shift, and its minimum service was set at 26% of the day’s schedule.
“I don’t have percentages, but it is undoubtedly having an impact.”
That was Juan Diego Pedrero, president of the Spanish Association of Private Railway Companies, who said port activity had slowed sharply and was hitting rail-port traffic at Valencia and Barcelona. The logistics employers’ association UNO had called the wider effect “limited and localised”.
Questions for the forwarder this week
After the Spain port strike, the open question is timing. Valencia opened its container terminals at 6:00 on Thursday 12 November and warned that trucks may pile up there on Thursday and Friday. Ask the forwarder for the real discharge date of the vessel carrying your box and for the pickup slot at the terminal. The original ETA may no longer apply. If the box was due through Barcelona, ask whether its customs inspection was among the operations suspended.
Rail freight could see more disruption. The drivers’ union Semaf kept a strike planned for 17 November and moved another to 23 November. A container booked on a rail leg inside Spain on either date needs a road fallback priced before the day.