Despite it being a bank holiday, there was a large gathering of protesters outside the Mercadona supermarket on Almuñécar's P4.

The protest action had been announced several days ago on social media, where the reason was explained behind this show of solidarity; two workers had been summarily sacked over an incident that many considered did not deserve such drastic action.

In fact, this is not the first time that a member of the Mercadona staff had been sacked under controversial circumstances- there was the case of a supervisor in 2018.

The general feeling is that the supermarket is finding excuses to sack long-serving members of staff because it is cheaper to find a new replacement without the higher salary & bonuses (benefits seniority) that veteran staff receive.

In this case the two workers who were fired had worked 20 and 26 years respectively in the supermarket. The incident, which according to those affected was trivial in comparison with the punishment, took place on the 3rd of August. the Coordinator informed Salvador Pagés and Adela Olivares that they were fired. Neither signed the notification document, preferring to consult legal advice.

The demands stated at the protest was for Salvador and Adela to be immediately reinstated and for the Coordinator to be transferred to different supermarket branch.

During the demonstration protesters had entered the supermarket and demanded to use complaint forms; something that a couple of the protesters had managed before everybody was ejected by the supermarket security staff. Consequently, the protesters complained to the Guardia Civil that they had been denied their right to register a complaint (hojas de reclamación). The officers arrived and accompanied the protesters whilst they filled them in.

(News: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia – Photos: D.Darby & D.Jones)