Ence Navia workers have agreed to halt production for 10 hours during Wednesday’s general strike, scheduled for 11 November 2026. Truck access to the factory is due to be blocked from midnight, with workers set to gather at the entrance from 11.00 to 12.30.
The stoppage will begin at 17.00, committee president Javier Zardaín said. The biomass boiler will be reduced to its minimum thermal level, the deepest cut possible without shutting the factory down completely. Zardaín said workers could debate whether this was the right moment, but he believed Spanish society had to take a stand sooner or later. Separately, an agreement reported on 18 February 2026 provides for 44 terminations at the Navia mill by the end of 2027 and up to 40 redeployments, which could continue until June 2028.
In A Mariña, pickets are also expected at ports and some supermarkets belonging to major food chains. The Puente de los Santos, which connects Galicia and Asturias, is another sensitive point: it is both a strategic crossing and a symbolic location. Security forces expect no blockade from the A Mariña side, saying it would require a large mobilisation they do not anticipate. What may happen from Asturias remains uncertain.
No special Guardia Civil deployment is planned. Unofficial sources said officers’ leave had not been suspended, unlike during some previous strikes. The force has asked security companies whether their employees intend to strike, a routine check aimed at keeping sites under closer watch.
At Alcoa’s San Cibrao plant, pickets will inform workers about their right to strike. The action is due to begin on the night shift on Tuesday, 10 November, and continue through Wednesday’s morning and afternoon shifts. The workers’ committee said minimum services would match those applied during the October 2020 strike under an arbitration ruling by the AGA. It described the company’s proposed staffing level as “abusiva.”
The strike’s practical uncertainty was already on workers’ minds in a supermarket on Tuesday. One worker from Asturias said he did not know whether he would be able to cross the Puente de los Santos. He intended to work, partly because missing a day meant losing pay, but feared the company’s response amid falling sales. He was also unsure whether pickets would let him through or what decision the company would take.
Two marches are scheduled for 12.00. The CC OO and UGT demonstration in Viveiro will leave from García Doriga street, while the CIG march in Burela will start outside the union’s premises on Arcadio Pardiñas avenue. SOS Sanidade Pública supports the calls. CCOO and UGT are the principal unions behind the nationwide 24-hour stoppage, alongside housing and social organizations calling for higher wages. Their demands also include better access to housing and stronger public services.
Galicia’s minimum-service rules require 50% of normal departures on regular routes under 25 kilometres that are not integrated into the regional network, during peak periods of 06.00 to 09.00 and 18.00 to 21.00. National rail services also have minimum-service levels: 65% for medium-distance trains and 73% for high-speed and long-distance services, as reported by El País.
In a separate report on Spanish legislation, RUSSPAIN.COM covered the animal welfare law, which is unrelated to the strike.
