Portugal's transport strikes since 2023: every strike call, in numbers

How often does transport in Portugal stop for a strike? We went through the official records of every strike in passenger transport and at airports that needed minimum services, from January 2023 to 10 October 2026. Here is what they show, and the full list to download.

Strike notices, year by year

Without the general strikes, the busiest year was 2024, with 25 notices. 2025 had 30, but 16 of them were the general strike on 11 December 2025.

Who strikes most

CP, the national rail company, leads by a distance: its train drivers (SMAQ), ticket and on-board staff and other rail unions filed notices every year. Carris, Lisbon's bus and tram company, is second. At the airports, easyJet's cabin crew and the ground-handling company SPdH, now Menzies, stand out.

Lisbon: 51 strike days in 2024

On top of those, partial or overtime-only strikes covered 49 more days in 2023, 24 more days in 2024, 7 more days in 2025 and 0 more days in 2026. A day counts once, however many companies were on strike. What still runs on a strike day: our guide.

Strike season is summer

June and July together account for 32% of all strike days, in the months when trains, buses, ferries and planes are busiest with visitors. February and January come next.

Flights and airports

Airline and airport strikes are fewer but hit visitors directly. A whole-day strike was called at an airline or an airport ground-services company on 28 days in 2023, 7 days in 2024, 11 days in 2025 and 7 days in 2026. easyJet's Portuguese crews have filed notices every year since 2023. Already called for later this year: easyJet, 19–23 December 2026. If a strike cancels your flight: your EU rights.

What the numbers count

• The sources. In Portugal, transport is an essential service, so every strike needs minimum services. For state-owned companies (CP, IP, Metro de Lisboa, Carris, Transtejo/Soflusa, STCP, TAP, Portugália), they are set by an arbitration panel at the CES, the Economic and Social Council. For private companies (easyJet, Ryanair, Portway, bus operators), they are set by a ministerial order, or agreed between the company and the unions, and published by the DGERT. Each entry links to its official decision.
• A notice is a strike that was called. One union's notice at one company, with a minimum-services decision. Some were later called off: where we know, the list says so, and most entries have not been checked one by one.
• Strike days. Calendar days covered by a whole-day strike, or by a strike whose decision does not state its type. Partial strikes (a few hours a shift) and overtime-only strikes are counted separately. Strikes over several periods within a long window (Menzies, 2025) count only the days we know went ahead.
• Lisbon public transport includes CP and IP: their strikes are national and normally stop Lisbon's suburban trains too.
• Not included: freight (rail freight and ports), cleaning and maintenance contractors at airports, and any strike settled without a published minimum-services decision.

All strike notices since January 2023

Use the data

Download the full list as a spreadsheet (CSV) or as JSON. It is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: please credit "LisTransfer, from CES and DGERT records" and link to this page. Journalists with questions can write to support@getvoolo.com. For the strikes coming up, see our strike list.