Malaga Metro workers' strike causes crowds at stops and long delays

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Thousands of passengers have complained of the lack of prior announcements about the strike on Thursday

Ignacio Lillo

Málaga

Thursday, 12 March 2026, 10:56

The metro workers' strike for better working conditions in Malaga on Thursday morning surprised thousands of passengers who say there was not enough information.

The strike took place between 8.30am and 11.30am, disrupting the flow of trains during the morning rush hours. Passengers crowded the metro stops and reported long delays.

The truth is that hardly anyone SUR managed to speak to knew that there was a strike. Many surprised faces stared at the "no service" signs on the trains that were not running. Other trains announced "minimum services".

SUR has verified that at least two of the trains scheduled to pick up passengers at the Perchel station did not run. When the third train finally arrived, the crowding in the carriages was such that some users, especially elderly people who were not in a hurry, preferred to get off and wait for the next one.

Long waits at rush hour

Among those affected were many students at the Malaga University and people who had a hospital appointment.

José Manuel had an appointment for some tests at the El Clínico hospital. "It was so full that I preferred to get off and wait for the next train (...) thank goodness I got here earlier and I still have time, but I had no idea about the strike. They could have at least announced it over the loudspeaker and inform people," he said.

Andrés, who works in a real estate company in the city centre, also didn't know about the strike until arriving at the station. Even then he couldn't understand what was happening, until he opened SUR's website and found the answer.

"There is nothing that indicates that there is a strike inside the station, nor is there through the public adress system, the notice boards; only the signs on one of the trains," he said.

It took Andrés about 25 minutes to get on a train due to the accumulation of passengers. "When I got off at El Perchel, there were even confrontations, people arguing over who was first. There was no room on the platform," he said.

His journey was from Puerta Blanca to Perchel. "I do this every day in eight to ten minutes. Today it took me 35 or 40 minutes. They should have informed people in advance so that they could have planned. Today I would have gone to work by car," the passenger stated.