Passengers flying with airlines served by Groundforce could face check-in queues, boarding delays or luggage problems at Barcelona Airport from August 4, even if their flight still operates. The indefinite strike affects one major ground-handling company, not the entire airport.

Groundforce walkout begins at midnight on August 4 

All 1,179 Groundforce employees based at Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport have been called to join an indefinite strike beginning at midnight on Tuesday August 4. The action involves staff working across ground assistance, check-in, passenger boarding and flight coordination. Groundforce’s airport operations also include ramp work and the loading and unloading of baggage. But this doesn’t mean Barcelona Airport is closing or that every flight will suddenly be cancelled. Groundforce is one of several companies providing services at El Prat, and Spain’s Transport Ministry has assured minimum services to keep a proportion of its airlines’ flights operating.

However, reduced staffing could affect check-in desks, boarding, aircraft turnaround times and the arrival of checked luggage. The actual impact will depend on how many employees join the strike and which individual services Groundforce assigns to its protected flights.

What major international airlines appear on the Groundforce list

The union announcement named Air Europa, Lufthansa, Air France, KLM, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Scandinavian Airlines and Air Arabia among Groundforce’s airline customers in Barcelona. For British travellers, Aena’s current baggage directory also identifies Groundforce as the luggage-service handler for Jet2.com. Other listed airlines include Turkish Airlines, United Airlines, Finnair, ITA Airways, Swiss, Brussels Airlines and Luxair.

Not every popular carrier at Barcelona uses Groundforce for baggage. Aena lists British Airways, Iberia, Level and Vueling under South Europe Ground Services, while easyJet and Ryanair appear separately. It would therefore be safe to assume that services with these airlines should run as usual. 

Airline contracts can differ between baggage, check-in, boarding and other ground operations, so passengers should confirm the situation with the carrier operating their flight rather than relying only on the name used to make the booking.

How minimum services protect 58 per cent of international flights

The Transport Ministry’s minimum-service resolution protects different proportions of Groundforce-served flights during August:

• 80 per cent of domestic flights between Barcelona and Spain’s islands, along with routes carrying a public-service obligation.
• 58 per cent of international flights and mainland routes where the public-transport alternative takes at least five hours.
• 35 per cent of shorter mainland routes with a public-transport alternative taking less than five hours.

Flights between Barcelona and the UK fall within the international category. However, the 58 per cent figure is not a prediction that the remaining 42 per cent will be cancelled. It is the minimum proportion of scheduled Groundforce-served operations that must be protected and continue operating.  Between August 4 and the end of September, the airlines concerned have approximately 11,600 flight movements and 2.4 million seats scheduled at Barcelona. Based on expected occupancy, the ministry estimates that around two million passengers could be affected by the dispute.

Why workloads and safety have driven the dispute for the Union

The General Confederation of Labour (CGT) said it called the strike because of what it described as a serious deterioration in occupational health and risk prevention. The union alleges that insufficient staffing and high employee turnover have produced unsustainable workloads, physical fatigue, stress and an increased risk of workplace accidents. It has also raised concerns about organisation and the amount of training given to new recruits. CGT said previous attempts to resolve the dispute through talks had not produced a satisfactory response.

Because the strike is indefinite, there is currently no final affected date. It could continue until an agreement is reached or the union suspends the action.

How will refunds and care work if a flight is disrupted?

Passengers due to use Barcelona Airport from August 4 should monitor the operating airline’s app, emails and flight-status page. During the period of possible disruptions, travellers are advised that medication, travel documents, keys and valuables are best kept in cabin baggage. Anyone whose checked suitcase fails to arrive should complete a Property Irregularity Report before leaving baggage reclaim.

Spain’s Aviation Safety Agency, AESA, confirms that a cancelled flight normally gives passengers a choice between a refund, rerouting at the earliest opportunity or alternative transport on a later suitable date. Rights to meals, refreshments and accommodation where necessary can also apply during a substantial delay.

Cash compensation is separate and will depend on the circumstances. AESA has previously said a ground-handling strike may qualify as an extraordinary circumstance if the airline proves it took all reasonable measures to avoid the disruption.

Unless an agreement is announced first, midnight between Monday August 3 and Tuesday August 4 will see the scheduled strike begin, without a fixed end date in sight.

The alleged shopping list ran from muscle-building steroids and growth hormones to erectile dysfunction products and experimental fat burners. Police say personal trainers and a doctor helped turn fitness advice into a route towards black-market medicines.

Fitness advice allegedly turned into a route to restricted drugs

Spain’s National Police said the investigation began after officers learnt of alleged malpractice involving a doctor in Málaga. According to police, the doctor prescribed medicines to people who did not have a medical condition that justified them. Investigators allege that fitness trainers first advised clients on nutrition and exercise, then put them in touch with the doctor to obtain prescriptions. Police said money changed hands as part of the arrangement.

When a medicine could not be prescribed through normal legal channels, the doctor then allegedly directed people to members of the network who supplied substances on the black market. Two other suspects are accused of using the doctor’s digital certificates, with his consent, to issue electronic prescriptions. The alleged catalogue was remarkably broad. Police listed anabolic substances, steroids, growth hormones, erectile dysfunction products and experimental fat-burning drugs which were prohibited for human consumption.

A hidden room and not just ‘a few’ loose pills

Officers carried out 11 searches and seven further inspections of businesses and storage units, where they seized more than 1,000 kilos of material, which police calculated as 200,000 doses of illegal medicines. The haul also included €37,000 in cash, electronic devices, a high-end vehicle and machinery allegedly used to make and disguise the products. Printing equipment for fraudulent packaging, capsule-filling machines, mixers and laboratory tubes were among the items recovered.

The find leads to considerably more than just a few loose pills at the bottom of a gym bag. Police said the equipment formed part of a clandestine laboratory, although the Interior Ministry’s detailed release did not identify its exact location. In Barcelona, officers also found a room concealed inside a warehouse, furnished with a treatment couch and medical instruments. Investigators allege that substances were administered intravenously there outside the legal healthcare system.

Twenty-seven arrests stretch across nine Spanish cities

The operation led to 27 arrests in total. Ten in Bilbao, five in Barcelona, four in Cádiz, two each in Málaga and Castellón, and one each in Sevilla, Madrid, Toledo and Zaragoza.

The suspects were arrested on suspicion of a myriad of offences including membership of a criminal organisation, trafficking medicines as a public-health offence, money laundering and unlawful professional practice. The allegations have not yet been tested in court.

Police did not identify the suspects or any product brands. They also did not specify how many of the 200,000 doses were erectile dysfunction products, steroids, hormones or fat-burning drugs, or whether any customers had suffered harm.

The legal pharmacy route is the important dividing line

The Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices warns that medicines obtained through illegal channels lack the guaranteed quality, safety, effectiveness and accurate information required for these types of prescriptions. With clandestine products, their ingredients, manufacturing standards and storage conditions may all be unknown.

In Spain, prescription medicines cannot legally be sold online. Only non-prescription medicines may be bought online and only through authorised pharmacy websites registered with the health authorities and displaying the common European Union logo.

Shopping bags stuffed with nearly €670,000 washed up on a busy Sicilian beach this week after the crew of a broken-down speedboat chucked them overboard as the Coast Guard closed in.

Holidaymakers at Casuzze, a small seaside spot in Santa Croce Camerina near Ragusa, found themselves scrambling after waterproof packages of banknotes as waves pushed the dodgy cargo onto the sand under a fierce July sun.

💰 Des vacanciers en Sicile ont découvert sur une plage de Casuzze des sacs Lidl contenant près de 700 000 euros en espèces, après l’échouage d’un bateau hors-bord. Les trois passagers maltais de l’embarcation ont été interpellés. pic.twitter.com/Im0gfpU4tO

— 75 Secondes 🗞️ (@75secondes) August 1, 2026

What began as a simple engine problem or empty fuel tank turned into one of the oddest scenes of the Sicilian summer, complete with fleeing men, a young passenger and a growing police puzzle about where the money came from and where it was headed.

How the boat drifted into trouble

A semi-cabin motorboat that had left Malta suffered a breakdown a short distance from shore. With no power, the boat drifted toward the coast while people on the beach watched. None of those on board shouted for help or tried to signal, which made the swimmers suspicious enough to raise the alarm.

Two of the four people on the boat used a small rubber dinghy to reach nearby Marina di Ragusa in search of fuel. The other pair stayed with the drifting craft. As the Coast Guard patrol boat drew nearer, those left on board began hurling sealed plastic containers into the water. Some packages sank. Others floated straight to the beach, where their transparent wrapping showed stacks of Euro notes inside.

Cash recovered with help from holidaymakers

Coast Guard crews and bathers worked together to gather the floating bags. Once opened, the packages revealed bundles of euros carefully wrapped to stay dry. Officials counted roughly €670,000, though some reports suggest the true total may climb higher if more bags surface in the coming days.

Local police and Carabinieri arrived within minutes at the crowded stretch of sand. The cabin cruiser itself was later towed into port. Beachgoers described the strange sight of people chasing notes of five and ten euros blowing across the sand while officers tried to grab every last package.

Four adults on board and one kid

Three men and a minor had been travelling on the speedboat. Two adults have been identified but have so far refused to explain the cash. A third man appears to have slipped away. The young passenger, who does not speak Italian and is believed to come from abroad, was taken into the care of social services by the juvenile prosecutor’s office. Investigators say the boy has no clear link to the two men already named and may have been connected to the man who is still on the run.

Two of those on board tried to swim for shore once the Coast Guard arrived. Both were quickly picked up and taken with the others to the Marina di Ragusa beach office for questioning.

Police probe origins of the cash

Ragusa prosecutors have opened a full investigation. Police are mapping the boat’s route from Malta, any stops or contacts made during the trip, and the intended destination of the money. So far no firm link has been made to drug trafficking, money laundering or any other organised crime, though both currency smuggling and the movement of undeclared cash remain possible explanations.

Police Chief Salvatore Fazzino said that pure chance played a part. Had the engine kept running, the boat and its cargo would almost certainly have continued unnoticed. Investigators now face the task of tracing every note and every contact while the young passenger waits for his family or embassy to respond.

The case sits only a short distance from the fictional home of the popular TV detective Inspector Montalbano, yet the real-life mystery of nearly €670,000 tossed into the sea off Casuzze remains very much unsolved.

So, if you happen to be paddling along the seashore, keep an eye out for what washes up. You never know what you might find.