Spain: Renfe train drivers' strikes on Tuesday 10 November (full day) and Thursday 12 November 2026 (partial) — SEMAF, around the 11 November general strike

The train drivers' union SEMAF has called two more strike days for the driving staff of all Grupo Renfe companies: a full stoppage on Tuesday 10 November 2026 and partial stoppages through the day on Thursday 12 November. The call was announced on the evening of 29 October, at the end of the union's 24-hour strike that day, which SEMAF says had unanimous backing; Renfe counted 26.6% of drivers on strike at 18:00. The exact hours of the 12 November stoppages have not been published yet.

What to expect: on 10 November Renfe's AVE, long-distance, Media Distancia and Cercanías services will run only at the minimum-service level the Ministry of Transport sets, which it publishes a few days before the strike; on 12 November disruption is limited to the stoppage hours. Renfe publishes the list of trains that run and cancels the rest; passengers on cancelled trains can change or refund their tickets. Between the two dates, Wednesday 11 November is a general strike called by CCOO and UGT, which also affects Renfe — three days of reduced rail service in a row are likely. Ouigo and Iryo are not covered by this call.

Why: SEMAF says the commitments made to it for a structural change in railway safety have not been met and speaks of institutional paralysis; it says drivers must not be used to cover for management failures and that safety is not a bargaining chip. Its demands are the ten points of the October strike: binding protocols for extreme-weather alerts, a 'just culture' that does not automatically blame drivers, a direct channel to the safety agency, technical fixes to rolling stock, rest rules, retirement coefficients and the protocol for drivers involved in fatal collisions. Renfe said before the October strike that it had met all its commitments and that most of the demands lie outside its remit.