Barcelona port workers set barricade ablaze, cruise passengers forced to walk with luggage

Port workers in Barcelona, Spain, set a barricade ablaze on Wednesday, blocking access to a cruise terminal and forcing passengers to haul their luggage on foot, according to local reports.

The protest took place near Barcelona's cruise terminals, where workers blocked an access road leading to the Porta d'Europa bridge, Spanish news outlet Cronica Global reported.

The workers were protesting potential pay cuts, with the road closures forcing cruise passengers to walk with their luggage instead of travelling by bus or car, the same outlet reported.

Roughly 200 workers took part in the protest, which lasted about four hours, Spanish outlet Metropoli said.

There was a burning barricade made of branches. Riot police were reportedly deployed to the area, according to Cronica Global.

Four cruise ships carrying a combined total of more than 13,000 passengers were in port during the disruption, according to Cruise Hive.

The vessels reportedly included Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas, Mein Schiff 7 and AIDAmar, which were visiting Barcelona.

Norwegian Escape was also in port preparing to embark passengers for a new voyage, Cruise Hive reported.

Spanish outlets reported that the protest followed a government audit that found discrepancies between approved salary budgets and the amounts workers were actually paid.

Workers fear the findings could lead to pay cuts of up to 8%, according to local news outlet beteve.

Employees have argued they should not be penalised for the discrepancies. "The solution is not to cut salaries," the workers' committee said in a statement on Wednesday, according to maritime news outlet Diario del Puerto.

In a statement, the Port of Barcelona said it was required to correct the payroll discrepancies identified in the government audit but maintained that the issue was not the result of wrongdoing by the port, according to local broadcaster beteve.

According to the Port of Barcelona, the port recorded nearly 4 million cruise passenger movements in 2025, making Barcelona one of Europe's busiest cruise destinations.