What happens when airport cleaning staff stop picking up after us, in horrifying photos

Welcome to Spain.
Welcome to Spain.
Image: EPA/Toni Albir
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Cleaning up after other people is a thankless, invisible job, and now we know what it looks like when those cleaners get fed up: Barcelona’s El Prat Airport.

Travelers arriving to Barcelona in the past few days were greeted by astounding heaps of trash at the airport, due to a five-day cleaning staff strike. From Nov. 28 to Dec. 2, union workers protested changes in work schedules and reduced holidays, after airport authorities awarded a new, low-priced contract to operator company Valoriza, El Pais reports.

Though the strike has ended for now, a spokesman told El Pais that they haven’t heard from Valoriza. Workers have threatened to leave El Prat drowning in waste once again with another strike again on Dec. 22 and 23, if negotiations do not make progress.

Passengers pull their suitcases through a floor littered with pieces of paper. Dec 1, 2016.
Passengers pull their suitcases through a floor littered with pieces of paper. Dec 1, 2016.
Image: Reuters/Albert Gea
Image for article titled What happens when airport cleaning staff stop picking up after us, in horrifying photos
Image: Reuters/Albert Gea
Image for article titled What happens when airport cleaning staff stop picking up after us, in horrifying photos
Image: Reuters/Albert Gea
Image for article titled What happens when airport cleaning staff stop picking up after us, in horrifying photos
Image: Reuters/Albert Gea
Image for article titled What happens when airport cleaning staff stop picking up after us, in horrifying photos
Image: Reuters/Albert Gea
Image for article titled What happens when airport cleaning staff stop picking up after us, in horrifying photos
Image: Reuters/Albert Gea