Barcelona lifeguards maintain strike ahead of vote on new council proposal

Barcelona's beach lifeguards have announced they will vote on a new proposal on working conditions put forward by the city council, following a mediation meeting with the company that manages the service and the Department of Labor.

The meeting took place on Wednesday and lasted more than eight hours.

According to sources from the CGT union, lifeguards will continue their ongoing strike until the vote, scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

The union also said they are open to continuing negotiations if the proposal is rejected.

Protest actions halted

Lifeguards began an indefinite strike on August 1, complaining of a lack of improvements in working conditions and failure to honour past agreements.

Some of the protest actions – such as closing lifeguard towers or flying red flags – will be temporarily halted until the vote on Thursday.

Red flags on Catalan beaches indicate that bathing is completely forbidden, while yellow flags mean swim with caution and a green flag on the beach is an all-clear sign, indicating that it's safe to swim.

Deputy Mayor Jordi Valls criticised lifeguards for raising red flags during the strike, reminding them that yellow flags should be flown unless bathing is genuinely unsafe.

Valls also pointed out that lifeguards must comply with the legally mandated minimum service level of 50% during the strike, and reiterated the city council's call for the public to take extra precautions when swimming.