Live News From Spain As It Happens

DRIVING EXAMINERS have threatened to resume their strike unless they get the pay rise of €250 a month they have requested from the national government.

Industrial action last year saw examiners downing tools three days a week between June and December inclusive, leading to literally hundreds of thousands of driving tests being cancelled or shelved and driving schools forced out of business as pupils decided there was little point in carrying on with their lessons if they had no idea when they might have a chance at getting their licences.

The average first-time fail rate in Spain is around 73%, meaning demand for tests is high as the nearly three-quarters of candidates who do not pass their initial driving test are keen to book another as soon as possible.

An agreement by the opposition parties in government, who are in the majority, to back the examiners' pay-rise request if they managed to get it through to a Parliamentary vote.

Examiners have been asking for the extra €250 for the last decade, since they consider it unfair that they are paid the same as office-based staff when they face additional risks, and with long-running staff shortages due to cutbacks, often have to double up their shifts.