Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

TRAVEL NEWS

Smooth sailing: First international cruise ship since start of pandemic docks in Spain

An international cruise ship carrying German tourists docked Tuesday in Malaga, southern Spain, the first such arrival in more than a year, officials said.

Published: 15 June 2021 15:42 CEST
cruise spain pandemic
Tourists disembark from the cruise ship 'Mein Schiff 2' of the German travel giant TUI at the port in Malaga, on June 15th. Photo: Jorge Guererro/AFP

On June 7th, Spain’s transport ministry lifted a ban on international cruise ships that had been imposed at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.

The ban was lifted after the virus began to ease in Europe, where most cruise passengers come from, and also owing to rising vaccination numbers.

“This is the first international cruise ship,” a spokesman for Spain’s port authorities told AFP after the Mein Schiff 2 docked in the southern resort.

The liner belongs to German travel giant TUI.

“After 15 months in which our ports have stood empty, of waiting for these ships, we’re all committed to making it an unforgettable experience for the passengers,” Carlos Rubio, president of Malaga’s port authority, told RNE.

He said the visitors were being allowed off in organised groups however to ensure Covid safety regulations were adhered to.

“With these first cruises, the excursions are going to be in bubbles, meaning people won’t be able to walk around freely but I hope within in a few months, as the vaccination progresses, things can get back to normal.”

Rubio said Malaga was expecting to receive around 50 stopovers this year, describing it as “a good start”.

The vessel arrived from Gran Canaria in Spain’s Canary Islands and is to sail later Tuesday to Mallorca in the Balearic islands, the radio said.

Before the pandemic, Spain was Europe’s second-most popular destination for cruise ship stopovers.

In 2019, international cruises contributed around 2.8 billion euros ($3.4 billion)to Spain’s economy, accounting for 50,000 jobs and 1.5 billion euros in wages, according to Cruise Lines International Association.

With more than 80,000 deaths and 3.6 million infections, Spain has been badly hit by the pandemic but the number of cases has slowed significantly as its vaccination programme has gathered pace.

To read more travel news, explainers and other content on The Local Spain, check out our travel section here. 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

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.

SHOW COMMENTS