More travel misery in Spain with public transport strikes

Travelers in the Spanish cities of Madrid and Barcelona face another day of transport problems due to a further round of strikes in public transport. The metro and buses in Spain\'s two major cities are running limited services in the morning and evening rush hours in protest at spending cuts which have seen wages and services reduced, while ticket prices have increased. It is the second such strike in Madrid and the third in Barcelona, where services were also affected by a combined metro and bus strike on Monday, although the effect of that action was limited given that it was a public holiday in Catalonia. There are further strikes planned for Monday, Oct. 1, where the action will coincide with action on the Spanish railways, and more strikes are planned for October 22, 26 and 29. The unions have been obliged to accept minimum services of 42 percent for the morning and 34 percent for the evening, meaning a greatly reduced service for people travelling to and from work. Any commuters in Madrid attempting to avoid the strike by driving to work this Friday have the misfortune that the strike coincides with the first day of heavy rain of the autumn in the capital and central Spain. Although the rain is much needed after one of the hottest and driest summers on record, it has added to the chaos leading to large queues of traffic on the main roads into the city.