Seventeen thousand unhappy travellers have filed complaints with Spain’s national airline Iberia after being stranded by a wildcat strike at Barcelona’s El Prat airport, the El Periodico daily said. “Out of the 150,000 people affected (by the strike), at least 100,000 have already received compensation,” the Catalan newspaper reported.

The daily said Catalonia’s regional government expected 20,000 people to file a formal complaint with the company by the end of the year.

Ground staff with Iberia Handling occupied the one of the airport’s runways for 11 hours on July 28, bringing El Prat to a standstill. Hundreds of flights were cancelled, creating days of chaos during the peak summer tourist season.

The wildcat stoppage was in protest at Spanish airport authority AENA’s decision to withdraw the management of passenger ground services from Iberia.

Iberia has also been nominated this year for a

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World Travel Award as Europe’s Leading Business Class Airline.
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