Spain holiday warning as there ‘won’t be sheets or towels’ in hotels next month

British tourists travelling to Spain’s Balearic Islands next month are being warned about possible problems in hotels due to a strike.

Laundry workers in the Balearics are set to walkout indefinitely from 1 August if a dispute over pay cannot be resolved through talks. Members of the UGT and CCOO unions have said they will stage industrial action if their demands over improvements to pay and conditions are not met.

It means that holidaymakers visiting the Balearics could be left without fresh sheets or towels in hotels from next month if the strike goes ahead.

A wage increase of 20 euros (around £17.25) has already been proposed to workers by employers, taking their monthly pay up to 1,100 euros (around £950), but this has been rejected as not being enough, the unions have said.

Hotels in Ibiza are not expected to be hugely impacted if workers walkout, as most do their laundry services in-house. But unions are warning that other popular holiday spots of Majorca and Menorca in the Balearics could be badly hit, which could prove to be a major blow for tourism on the islands. Unless a last-ditch agreement is reached, workers are due to go on strike from 7am on Tuesday 1 August.

Miguel Pardo, general secretary of the CCOO Habitat Balearas union, warned that hotels would be likely to suffer as minimum cleaning services would have to be applied to essential facilities, such as hospitals, first. He claimed that workers were being exploited and many were leaving to find other jobs.

Speaking to the local press, Mr Pardo said: “It could be disastrous for tourism. It’s going to affect hotels full-on. There won’t be sheets or towels.”

In addition to wage increases, union bosses are also seeking extra pay for working at night and improvements in regulated rest time. They are also demanding a guaranteed two consecutive days off for their members each week - a request described as a “red line”.

As well as potential hotel woes, UK tourists are also being warned of extreme weather conditions in the Balearics. The islands of Majorca, Ibiza and Menorca have been issued with extreme’ and ‘high’ risk alerts due to the heat, prompting fears of wildfires.

A forest fire red alert was issued in Majorca by the Palma Met Office on Tuesday (25 July) and Spain’s meteorological agency AEMET has issued an “extreme” red alert for the island, which is home to the popular resorts of Magaluf, Palma Nova and Santa Ponsa.

AEMET put the southern and eastern tip of Majorca at “extreme” risk of wildfires, while Ibiza and Menorca were both placed on “high alert”.

Firefighters told the Majorca Daily Bulletin that the region’s wooded areas had become a “tinder box” due to the scorching weather, before adding that they are well equipped for any blazes that break out.

It comes after AEMET last week issued extreme weather risk warnings - the maximum alert level - for Majorca as the mercury pushed above 40C in some parts of the island.

The UK Foreign Office has warned that forest fires occur frequently in Spain during the summer months, including in the Spanish islands, and urged holidaymakers to check with their travel provider before travelling and to follow the advice of local authorities “at all times”.