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Spain-Portugal border closure extended until March 1st

Police checks at the border between Spain and Portugal will continue until at least March 1st, the government confirmed on Tuesday, in a bid to control the spread of coronavirus with only those with justified cause allowed to cross.

Published: 9 February 2021 10:11 CET
Spain-Portugal border closure extended until March 1st
The border will be closed until March 1st. Photos: AFP

The borders were initially closed on January 29th  but the measure has been extended until at least the end of the month, with only those authorized to do so allowed to cross from one country to another at specific points and during limited hours.

“The severity of the restrictive mobility measures still in force in Spain and Portugal justifies maintaining … controls at the internal land border … with the same limitations applied during the initial ten days,” the Spanish interior ministry said in the government’s official gazette (BOE).

Those driving into Spain from Portugal are allowed to do so if they are returning to their place of habitual residence and must provide documentation to prove it.

This includes those who are returning from Portugal to their place of residence in another EU member state or within Schengen zone and need to cross Spain.

Exceptions are also made for those crossing the border for work purposes or for reasons of study and should be able to provide proof in order to do so, this includes cross-border workers who live in one country but work in the other.

There is also a “force majeure” clause which accepts that those with very good reason are allowed to cross the border provided they can demonstrate it.

Restrictions have been placed at the border crossings with hours limited. For a full list of which crossing points are open and when read this explainer from Spanish police HERE.

Portugal, a nation of just over 10 million, is facing its worst outbreak since the pandemic began, with COVID-19 cases totalling 767,919 and a death toll of 14,354.

While daily infections began falling a week ago as the effect of a lockdown kicked in, the country ranks fourth worldwide for its seven-day rolling average of new cases per capita and remains first for deaths, according to ourworldindata.org.

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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