Hundreds of thousands of British holidaymakers face travel chaos later this month after Spanish air traffic controllers' voted to strike in August.
Spain is by far the most popular holiday destination for Britons, with 11 million of us visiting the country last year, according to the Association of British Travel Agents, and the summer months, especially the August school holidays, are the busiest period. ABTA estimates that more than 1m Britons will visit the country between May and September.
With the prospect of cancelled flights and long delays, alternative routes to Spain, with flights into nearby airports in neighbouring countries, ferries and rail services, are listed below:
FLIGHTS
The following carriers fly to these nearby alternative airports in France and Portugal:
Biarritz: Ryanair, easyJet, Air France
Pau: Ryanair, Air France
Bergerac: Ryanair, Flybe, Jet2
Toulouse: easyJet, British Airways
Carcassonne: Ryanair
Lisbon: eayJet, BMIbaby, British Airways, TAP
Faro: Jet2, BA, TAP
Porto: TAP
If you want to find the nearest alternative airport to your destination in Spain a useful site to try is flycheapo.com.
FERRY
Brittany Ferries run services between Portsmouth - Santander (three services a week on Tues, Wed, Fri, crossing takes 24 hours) and Plymouth to Santander (one sailing a week on Sun taking 20 hours), from £301 for a car with two passengers. (brittany-ferries.co.uk; 0871 244 0744).
P&O ferries fun a service every three days from Portsmouth to Bilbao until 27 September. Departing at about 9.15pm and arriving about 8am on the third day (cruising for 2 nights). (08716 64 20 20; poferries.com).
RAIL
Eurostar run trains from London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord, then you can take an overnight Tren hotel train from Paris Gare d'Austerlitz to either Madrid or Barcelona.
The AVE high-speed rail network connects Madrid and Barcelona to a dozen of Spain's main - and not so main - cities at speeds that top 300km/h. For timetables and fare information see renfe.es.
Alternatively, see the Spain page at Seat61.com
CAR HIRE
Usfeul sites to find cheap car hire: Traveljungle, car-hire-center.co.uk, comparecarhire.co.uk, holidayautos.co.uk.
Read our guide to the best price comparison travel websites to save money on hotels, flights, car hire and insurance.
