The employee committees of Spanish railway operator Renfe and infrastructure manager Adif have jointly announced seven strike days across the country.

The strikes are a response to the manner in which responsibilities for commuter rail services—known as Rodalies—are being transferred to the Generalitat de Cataluña, the regional government of Catalonia.

The committees allege that the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, led by Óscar Puente, has failed to adhere to agreements made in November 2023, which had previously led to the cancellation of an initial strike.

The agreements stipulated that Renfe and Adif would continue providing Rodalies and Renfe Mercancías services, ensuring the preservation of workforce integrity in both public companies and establishing working groups for collaborative solutions.

Strike Timetable
The first complete strike will commence on Monday, March 17. This will be followed by additional full work stoppages on March 26 and April 1. Partial strikes will occur on March 19, 24, 28, and April 3, coinciding with three operational shifts throughout those days.

On March 19, for instance, the strike will take place from 06:00 to 09:00, from 14:00 to 17:00, and from 21:00 to 23:00. On March 24 and April 3, the work stoppage will occur from 06:30 to 09:30, from 14:30 to 17:30, and from 20:30 to 22:30. March 28 will see strikes from 06:00 to 09:00, from 13:30 to 16:30, and from 20:30 to 23:30.

Affected Services
The planned strike action will impact services across High Speed (Alta Velocidad), Medium Distance (Media Distancia), and Commuter Services (Cercanías).

Minimum Service Levels
Renfe has proposed minimum service levels that could reach up to 81% for High-Speed trains and 75% for Medium Distance and Commuter services during peak hours, reducing to 50% for the remainder of the day.

The General Employment Committee has expressed its disapproval of these proposed minimums, arguing that they restrict the impact of the strikes and impede the effective exercise of the right to strike.

The Ministry of Transport is expected to finalize the framework for essential services in the coming days.

Reasons Behind the Strikes
On February 17, the Generalitat announced a timeline for the transfer of Commuter Services to the Catalonian administration.

Territory Minister Sílvia Paneque stated that a mixed-ownership company—with a parity board between the Generalitat and the national government—will manage the Rodalies service in Catalonia starting January 1, 2026. This shift means that the public enterprise will assume management of all lines within the region.

A preliminary approval was granted in mid-January for the transfer of Line R1, connecting Barcelona with Maçanet de la Selva, as initial steps toward handing over management.

The establishment of this mixed-ownership company is expected to be a lengthy process, with the company statutes to be drafted this spring and the public mixed company set to be incorporated before December 31, 2025. The Catalonia branch of Renfe must be created beforehand to facilitate the transition, separating its workforce from the national staff.

Employees from this new subsidiary will subsequently be integrated into the new mixed company.

This phase has raised concerns among unions, contributing to the decision to hold the strikes.

In addition to the Rodalies transfer, the strikes are also aimed at protesting what workers describe as a process of 'covert privatization,' which they claim the government is pursuing through the establishment of a new company controlled by the logistics firm MSC, which Renfe is considering as a financial partner.

Unions allege that in facilitating this transition, the public company is being undermined through measures such as failing to pursue new workload contracts, hindering commercial efforts to secure clients, and impeding train operations due to inaction from management centers.