KEY POINTS: What changes about life in Spain in September 2025

Ryanair’s so-far unproblematic strike to continue

In early August, Spanish workers union UGT called a walkout for baggage handling staff at Azul Handling, Ryanair's ground operations subsidiary in Spain. So far, most of the flights have remained largely unaffected apart from a few delays and a handful of cancellations. If negotiations remain unresolved, however, the Ryanair strikes could continue every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday until the end of this year, which adds up to a total of 76 strike days.

The stoppages are to affect all Ryanair bases in Spain, which include Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Málaga, Alicante, Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca, Girona, Tenerife South, Lanzarote, and Santiago de Compostela.

READ ALSO: Weekend of airport strikes in Spain suggest minimal disruptions ahead

Spain to vote on shorter work week

The vote on reducing the number of working hours in Spain has been delayed until September, which means there could finally be a decision next month. Members of parliament will be voting on amendments to the entire bill before finding out if it will be approved or not.

Back in February 2025, the Spanish government approved a draft bill to reduce the number of hours in the working week in Spain from 40 to 37.5 and after several amendments it is now being voted on again. One of the major delays was due to Catalan party Junts who demanded that SMEs, the self-employed, and workers in Catalonia be protected.

The reduction in working hours seeks to provide a healthier work-life balance and to allow workers for time leisure and family time, but it will also mean a difficult time for small businesses, those in the hospitality industries and the self-employed who will have staffing issues if they try to maintain the same opening hours.

READ ALSO: Spain's shorter work week could mean 12 extra holiday days for some workers

New push to ban prostitution

Spain's Minister of Equality Ana Redondo announced at a recent press conference that her ministry will present a series of measures against sexism to the Council of Ministers this September, which will include a draft bill for the abolition of prostitution.

Spain's ruling Socialist Party already approved a future Comprehensive Abolitionist Law on Prostitution at its last Federal Congress.

The minister noted that these measures will allow us to "move forward firmly toward the abolition of prostitution and toward greater democratic and feminist equality".

READ MORE: What's the law on prostitution in Spain?

Anti-smoking law up for debate

A new anti-smoking law was scheduled for the end of July, but has now been delayed until September 2025. This had caused some concern among health associations and public health experts, as more than two months after the end of the public consultation, a final text of the draft bill had still not been submitted to the Spanish Cabinet.

The legal document is now due to be presented in the Council of Ministers this September. The new draft law includes significant changes that directly affect smokers.

One of the most important measures is the expansion of smoke-free spaces, which will include bar and restaurant terraces, public transport shelters, outdoor sports venues, and areas near healthcare and educational centres. The primary goal is to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke in places where vulnerable people, such as children or sick people are.

Primark to open in Jaén

Budget fashion chain store Primark is to open its first store in the province of Jaén this September. It will be located in the Jaén Plaza shopping centre and have 2,500 square meters of retail space on a single floor.

The company stated that the opening "will create a series of new jobs," without specifying the number, although the Jaén City Council has indicated that the figure will likely be around 100 jobs.

This is Primark's 14th store in Andalusia and its 67th in Spain.

Valencia to begin DANA floods prevention plan in 25 neighbourhoods

Valencia City Council will launch its Valencia + Segura Plan this September in the 25 neighbourhoods and 15 villages affected by the devastating floods.

This will include training to prevent future injuries and will culminate with a Great Prevention Week in November. Emergency kits will be issued to each family and there will be around 300 trainers.

The floods hit Valencia last October and killed at least 232 people according to the International Journal for Equity in Health.

Alicante wages war on noise

Alicante City Council has launched a noise-reduction campaign which will run until September 30th to ensure residents get a good night's sleep. The initiative will carry out monitoring of the rules in the municipal ordinance on the Protection Against Noise Pollution, which will require an extra 50 night duty officers.

It will focus especially on night-time hours, between 10pm and 8am. The objective, Mayor Luis Barcala stated "is to guarantee citizens' right to rest, improve the quality of life in neighbourhoods, and ensure compliance with current regulations". Councillor for Security Julio Calero and that "it aims to reducing the number of complaints during nighttime hours, raise awareness among citizens and businesses about the importance of respecting noise limits, acting proactively and dissuasively in areas identified as the most problematic, and ensuring the effective application of the Ordinance's sanctioning regime".

Very serious violations carry fines ranging from €12,001 to €300,000 and permanent revocation of the corresponding licences or authorisations. Serious violations carry fines from €601 to €12,000, with the possibility of suspension of an environmental license for a period ranging from one month and one day to one year. Minor violations carry fines of up to €600.

READ ALSO: 'Impossible to sleep' - How fun-loving Spain is even too noisy for locals

New Seville-Istanbul and Málaga-Reykjavik flight routes

Seville will have a new daily direct flight to Istanbul operated by Turkish Airlines in September. The new connection will begin operating on September 17th and will be offered year-round.

Mayor of Seville, José Luis Sanz stated that " Istanbul is not only a strategic gateway to Asia, but also a first-class global hub. This new route strengthens our international position, improves our connectivity with emerging markets, and consolidates Seville as a key destination in Southern Europe for quality tourism and investment. We continue working to ensure that Seville is increasingly better connected to the world".

Another new route this September, starting on the 6th, connects Málaga to the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik. Icelandair, will operate this new route until May 30th, 2026 with two flights per week. One flight per week has been scheduled from November to March and the company plans to pause operations in January and February.

Jerez to regulate tourist apartments

The Andalusian city of Jerez de la Frontera is set to approve the regulation of tourist housing as an economic activity this September. This will allow the Jerez City Council to control future licences and openings of tourist accommodation in order to balance these with the number of residential homes.

Among other measures, it will mean that only the apartments located ground floors of residential buildings will be able to get tourist licences in the future.

Urban Planning Delegate, Belén de la Cuadra, told news site Mira Jerez that the objective is "to regulate the coexistence between tourist use and residential use... in addition, we will regularise the concept of economic activity in this regard, establishing as an essential requirement to obtain a tourist licence to exercise tourist use".

Previously, to open tourist let in Jerez, you had to go to the Andalusian Regional Government 's registry in Cádiz, but now it will be under the jurisdiction of Jerez itself.

New festival for mountain bike lovers in Spain