Ouigo Spain strike November 2026: slots and alternatives

1. What is announced, and by whom

On 8 October 2026, the drivers’ union Semaf announced a strike notice targeting Ouigo España. The Spanish press picked it up over the following days: articulo14 on 8 October, diarioenpositivo and Catalunya Press on 15 October, then merca2 on 17 October. According to these articles, about one hundred drivers are being called. Ouigo says it employs more than five hundred staff.

Ouigo did not confirm the notice in a press release we could read. The company did speak publicly, however, according to Gaceta del Turismo on 9 October and merca2 on 17 October. It says it respects the company collective agreement signed in 2024, states that almost 100% of its staff are on permanent contracts with a turnover rate of 7.5%, and says it is ready to keep talking with employee representatives. The union, for its part, alleges repeated breaches of labour law: shifts it considers too long, rosters it considers abusive. These grievances come from the union. We found no public figures to back them up.

The dispute has also gone to mediation, according to the union and the press. The press dates the meeting to 13 October, but does not confirm a link with IRMA, the regional mediation body in Madrid. According to the union and the press, the mediation ended without agreement.

What will decide how big the strike really is: minimum services. Semaf is asking the Spanish Ministry of Transport to set none. The union argues that Renfe and Iryo already cover the essential service on the same routes, according to diarioenpositivo (15 October 2026). At the date of checking, we found no ministry decision concerning Ouigo.

We found no withdrawal (desconvocatoria) as of 24 October. Be careful with older search results, though: Semaf already announced the lifting of a strike at Ouigo in June 2025, after an agreement (merca2, 6 June 2025). That precedent does not apply to November 2026. A strike notice can be called off up to the day before, so read everything below again before you travel.

For the separate Renfe driver strike, called by Semaf for 29 October 2026, read our dedicated article on the Renfe strike of 29 October.

The announced calendar comes to six dates, which the press links to long weekends (puentes). No strike is announced on 2 December: the stoppages announced for December fall on 4 and 8 December, with no hours specified.

Source: articulo14 (8 October 2026), diarioenpositivo (15 October 2026) and merca2 (17 October 2026), checked on 24 October 2026 (articulo14 from a search extract, page not read: 403 error; diarioenpositivo from an extract). Weekdays checked by calculation.

The press links each date to a bridge weekend. All Saints’ Day falls on a Sunday in 2026; according to the press, the 30 October and 2 November dates connect to it. 9 November is the feast of La Almudena, patron saint of Madrid: a local holiday whose official status is still to be confirmed in the BOCM, the Madrid regional gazette. For 4 and 8 December, the press cites the Immaculate Conception. This is a journalistic reading: it helps explain the choice of dates, but it has no legal value.

2. The 6 and 9 November time slots, read closely

The press only specifies time slots for 6 and 9 November; one press extract also attributes slots to 4 and 8 December, without confirmation. For 6 and 9 November, according to press reports, the slots cover the morning, from 6:00 am to 12:00 pm, and the evening, from 6:00 pm to 11:59 pm. The union had not detailed these slots when it announced the notice, and we did not read any official statement from Ouigo or the union confirming them.

The table below separates the three possible situations. It is not a timetable: no list of services has been published for these two days.

Source: Spanish press, articulo14 (8 October 2026) and diarioenpositivo (15 October 2026), checked on 24 October 2026, from search extracts: the articulo14 page could not be read (403 error) and diarioenpositivo is an extract only. None of these slots is repeated in an official statement read on that date.

The most cautious reading is this. The gap from 12 pm to 6 pm is not a guarantee that trains will run: it only means that no slot has been announced for that window. The number of drivers actually on strike, the number of trains cancelled and whether minimum services apply are not published for either day. In our reading, which is an analysis rather than published data, a driver strike does not necessarily cancel every train in the same way: it depends on how many drivers are available and on the company’s reserve.

6 November is a Friday and 9 November a Monday. A late-afternoon departure, between 6 pm and midnight, therefore falls within the announced window. For evening journeys, allow two to three hours’ margin, and remember that the refund rules detailed below apply if the train is cancelled.

3. Madrid: the right station, and a day out

Ouigo does not use a single station in Madrid. According to its destinations page, read on 24 October 2026, trains to Barcelona leave from Puerta de Atocha, while trains to Valencia, Alicante, Elche, Valladolid or Segovia leave from Chamartín Clara Campoamor. One station is not enough: check the one printed on your ticket.

Madrid: Ouigo stations and a day out

Barcelona from Atocha Madrid to Barcelona: 2h 30 Stoppages announced: 30 Oct, 2, 6, 9 Nov, 4 and 8 Dec Valencia from Chamartín

Two Ouigo stations are listed in Madrid. We have not checked their metro connections, so we do not detail them here: check the Madrid transport map on the day you leave, starting from the station printed on your ticket.

Before you leave, check

• The exact station, read from your ticket, since Atocha and Chamartín serve different routes.
• The status of the train the evening before and on the morning.
• Your actual departure and arrival times, to keep if the train is delayed.

Pixidia tip: if you have a free day in Madrid, a day trip to Segovia, Ávila and Toledo has nothing to do with your rail journey: it replaces neither the Madrid–Barcelona train nor the Madrid–Valencia one. Viator offers it for booking on part of the window from 25 October to 24 November 2026; the dates of 6 and 9 November have not been checked. The departure from Madrid is the one stated in the product title; the mode of transport has not been verified, so read the listing before you book.

Three cities in one day: Segovia, Ávila and Toledo from Madrid €85.49 to €89.99 per adult (based on 2 adults), checked on 24 October 2026 for dates from 25 October to 24 November · ★ 4.8 (11236 reviews)

Book your day trip to Segovia, Ávila and Toledo

The table below lists the durations shown by Ouigo. They carry no visible date. Another mention on the same page gives 2h 23 for Alicante instead of 2h 20: we keep the main figure.

Source: ouigo.com, destinations page, checked on 24 October 2026. The departure stations are those shown on the page; check them against your ticket.

4. Alternatives: Renfe, Iryo, plane and bus

The notice only targets Ouigo in Spain. It does not cover Ouigo’s French lines (Paris–Lyon, Paris–Marseille), and the French SNCF strike on 5 November is not linked to this notice. Renfe and Iryo are not covered by this call, which makes them the first options to compare if your Ouigo train is cancelled. Renfe is still exposed to its own driver strike, called by Semaf for 29 October 2026, so a rail alternative is not a guaranteed fallback.

The prices below are rough guides. They come from press averages or aggregators, collected on different dates and shown in the table. None of them is a valid fare for November 2026.

Renfe and Iryo: the train as an alternative

Renfe AVE: around 2h 37 Renfe notice: 29 October Iryo: outside the Ouigo notice

According to the press, a Renfe AVE takes about 2h 37 between Madrid and Barcelona, before the speed restrictions on the line. On the Madrid–Barcelona corridor, Spain’s competition regulator (CNMC) estimates the average delay at about 25 minutes, according to El Español (29 July 2026). Fares vary a lot: a January 2026 promotion advertised Avlo from €7 and AVE from €15 on Madrid–Valencia, but it had ended by the date of publication.

Pixidia tip: no Renfe stoppage or minimum service is announced for 6 and 9 November at the date of checking. The 29 October strike, on the other hand, concerns Renfe. Check the exact date of your Renfe journey before you buy, and do not assume a Renfe ticket is safe.

Plane and bus: two fallbacks for Madrid to Barcelona

Vueling: resumed 5 October Alsa direct: around 7h 30 November fare: not published Flights: 11 a week from 31 October (to be checked)

According to a single press source, not cross-checked, Vueling resumed the Madrid–Barcelona route on 5 October 2026, with eleven weekly frequencies from 31 October. No November fare was published in the sources we read, so we give no price for flying. The Alsa direct bus takes about 7h 30 according to an aggregator; the fare we found is quoted in dollars, with no reliable euro equivalent for November.

A flight cancelled during a strike falls under a different rule from the train: EU Regulation 261/2004 covers flights, not trains (flights departing the UK fall under the UK’s own version of that regulation). General strikes on 11 November may affect ground services and baggage, with no list of cancelled flights so far.

Compare flights Madrid–Barcelona

The table below puts the options side by side, with their duration, indicative price and data quality. It is only meant for comparing orders of magnitude.

Source: Migaku, Spanish train guide (fourth-quarter 2025 averages, secondary source), Omio for the bus (aggregator), press for Vueling, checked on 24 October 2026. Another press estimate (merca2, December 2025) gives different averages: only the order of magnitude should be kept.

For carpooling, BlaBlaCar trips between Madrid and Valencia, or between Valencia and Barcelona, were recorded at $21 to $31 per seat by aggregators (summer 2026 figures). These are example trips, not a price list, and the platform does not publish traffic figures during strikes.

For Madrid and Valencia, the Ouigo page shows 1h 50 between Chamartín Clara Campoamor and Joaquín Sorolla (ouigo.com, checked on 24 October 2026). The BlaBlaCar carpool mentioned above takes about four hours according to the figures. The bus starts from €34 according to Omio, a figure we consider unreliable and flag as such. The only Renfe promotion recorded on this route, in January 2026, has ended: no rail fare for Madrid–Valencia is quoted for November 2026.

5. Your rights if the train is cancelled or delayed

Three sets of rules overlap in the sources we read, and they do not give the same amounts. The article numbers and percentages for Spanish law come from OCU, the Spanish consumer organisation: the official Spanish text could not be checked for this article.

Source: OCU, « Huelga de trenes: ¿cuáles son tus derechos? » (article of 30 July 2026, read 24 October 2026); Infobae, 26 January 2026 for Ouigo’s policy; reference text of Regulation (EU) 2021/782, whose Spanish version has not been checked.

Note: the rule reported applies to a general strike; its application to a union notice still needs to be confirmed.

First distinction: cancellation and delay do not follow the same logic. For a cancellation, you can ask for a refund or alternative transport, and that is the rule to invoke first. For a delay, compensation thresholds apply. Under the EU rule, compensation is not due if you ask for a refund.

Second point, more disputed: force majeure. Ouigo cites force majeure in its conditions, which would in theory limit additional compensation. The OCU argues that a strike is not an exceptional circumstance in the legal sense. The question is not settled. If the operator invokes force majeure, you can challenge it in writing and cite the rule you think applies.

Third point, which often surprises people: vouchers. According to Infobae’s summary of Ouigo’s conditions, published on 26 January 2026, a cancellation notified the evening before, after 5 pm, gives entitlement to a 200% refundable voucher. A notification between midnight and 5 pm gives 100% compensation. We have not checked this 5 pm threshold against the terms of sale themselves. Do not accept a voucher without first reading the rule that applies to your case.

Last point, the claim. Ask the operator for the refund first, stating the rule you are applying. If it refuses, the OCU takes complaints, and the Spanish office of the European Consumer Centre network (ECC-Net) handles cross-border claims, which is the route for a traveller from outside Spain on a Spanish journey. ECC-Net mainly serves consumers resident in the EU, the EEA and partner countries: if you live in the UK, check its eligibility rules on its website before you file.

6. The 48-hour checklist before the train

Most questions come back to three things: who tells you, at what time, and what to do if the train is cancelled. Here is the order to follow.

• Today. Keep your ticket and booking confirmation, and note the train number and departure time. Without these, a refund claim rests on your word alone.
• The evening before. Check the Ouigo app or website.
• On the morning of departure. Check the train status again. A train can be cancelled up to its departure time, even after partial stoppages have been announced.
• If it is cancelled. Ask for a refund or alternative transport, stating the rule you are invoking. Do not sign a voucher without first reading the rule applied (see section 5).
• If it is delayed. Note the actual arrival time, with a screenshot of the app or the departure board. This evidence is needed for any compensation claim.
• If your claim is refused. Lodge a complaint with the operator. If the answer does not satisfy you, take it to the OCU or the Spanish ECC-Net office.

What other guides don’t tell you

• Three compensation thresholds, not one. The EU rule provides 25% if you do not ask for a refund, then 50% of the fare; the Spanish rule, according to the OCU, 50% then 100%; and Ouigo’s conditions, as reported by Infobae, 50% vouchers then a 100% refundable voucher at 90 minutes. Guides often give a single rule (OCU, 30 July 2026, checked on 24 October 2026; Infobae, 26 January 2026, checked on 24 October 2026).
• 11 November is a different strike. The general strike called by CCOO and UGT for 11 November 2026 is national and separate from the Ouigo notice. On 22 October, both unions asked to negotiate minimum transport services, with no list of trains published (Infobae, Press Digital, 22 October 2026, checked on 24 October 2026).
• A driver strike does not necessarily cancel every train. The number of trains cancelled depends on the drivers available, the company’s reserve and minimum services, none of which is published for Ouigo so far (diarioenpositivo, 15 October 2026, checked on 24 October 2026). This is an analysis of the situation: no source puts a figure on upcoming cancellations.