The third day of the indefinite strike by security workers at Barcelona-El Prat airport has started this Wednesday without notable queues or crowds at the security gates, at least nothing out of the ordinary for a day in August with 499 departures scheduled.
According to Aena, the public airport operator, significant queues were not recorded in either of the two terminals, not even first thing in the morning, when the two previous days of the strike saw waiting times approach 30 minutes.
Nor have notable queues been seen at the check-in desks because, after the normalisation of the situation by the increased presence of Civil Guard agents, travellers are not arriving as early as had been recommended.
To try to bring an end to the strike by workers from Eulen, the security contractors, this Wednesday afternoon Spain's Council of Ministers will hold an extraordinary meeting to analyse the dispute and start the binding arbitration process
First day after the queues
The day of calm arrives after sporadic queues returned yesterday coinciding with a public holiday and the start of the holidays for many locals. Yesterday the queues were especially pronounced early in the afternoon.
Sources from Aena described the queues as "exceptional" and attributed the possible crowds to the departure of flights to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar of high-capacity planes transporting a higher than usual number of passengers.