A majority of Spain's roughly 1,800 air traffic controllers voted Tuesday in favor of striking amid troubled negotiations with the government on a new contract, union officials told Efe.

Given the legal requirements for notification, the strike cannot begin until after Aug. 15.

The board of the USCA union that represents most of the controllers will meet Wednesday to set a date for the job action.

Even before the vote, Spain's airlines and tourism sector were sounding the alarm about a possible controllers strike at the peak of the summer season.

The AECA air-travel industry group said the mere announcement of a strike would prompt tourists to cancel bookings to Spain or opt for other Mediterranean destinations.

A walkout by air controllers would be "terrible" for the tourism sector and the broader Spanish economy, AECA President Felipe Navio said.

The union is concerned about new regulations allowing the outsourcing of air traffic control to private companies and angry about accusations that controllers at some towers were engaging in a sickout to put pressure on government negotiators in the contract talks.

The secretary-general of the CEHAT hoteliers association, Ramon Estalella, said he was "outraged" by the possibility of an air controllers strike and vowed to demand "firmness and brave solutions" from the government to prevent the paralysis of air travel.

The government should turn to the military or to controllers from other countries to fill the gap, he said.

Spanish officials announced last month that they had instituted a program to train military controllers to replace their civilian counterparts if necessary.

The military controllers could be trained "very quickly," Development Minister Jose Blanco said Tuesday prior to the union strike vote, though acknowledging he would prefer not to resort to that course of action.

(EFE)