Four million strike across Spain in nationwide mobilization

On November 11, at least 4 million workers walked out in Spain's first nationwide general strike in 14 years, shutting down factories, ports, and transport links. The stoppage, reported by the World Socialist Web Site and Left Voice, brought hundreds of thousands of people into the streets of Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, and Bilbao despite pouring rain to protest soaring rents, falling real wages, and the rising cost of living. This massive display of working-class power exposes the deep cracks in the capitalist political establishment just weeks before the snap November 29 elections called by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

The strike hit hardest in heavy industry and strategic transport hubs, according to both the World Socialist Web Site and Left Voice. The Workers Commissions and the General Labor Union reported high participation, while the Confederation of Tenants’ Unions highlighted nationwide actions spanning more than 100 cities through a network of 1,130 neighborhood strike committees. The World Socialist Web Site notes that participation reached 90 percent in the car industry, with stoppages at Seat in Martorell, 85 percent in meat processing, and 82 percent in refuse collection. In the Basque Country, production at Petronor, Mercedes, and ACV was minimal, while Galicia's metal employers' association Asime admitted 60 percent participation in shipbuilding. Ports came largely to a halt, with union figures claiming 90 percent participation in Valencia and Algeciras, and 100 percent among Algeciras dockers. Grid data compiled by public broadcaster RTVE and cited by Left Voice confirms the industrial paralysis, showing electricity demand fell by nearly 10 percent in the early hours of the strike.

Employers and government agencies tried to downplay the impact, but the streets told a different story. In Madrid, state officials counted 120,000 marchers while the Tenants’ Union put the figure at 400,000. In Barcelona, officials recorded 55,000 demonstrators compared to 400,000 claimed by organizers. Around 40,000 marched in Valencia by government count, and union figures placed Bilbao's turnout at 70,000. State repression was swift and brutal; police repeatedly charged protesters, leading the Interior Ministry to record 919 incidents and at least 60 arrests nationwide.

In our assessment, this mobilization shatters the cynical calculus of the ruling class. Following mass housing protests on October 3, Prime Minister Sánchez called snap elections for November 29 in a desperate maneuver to force workers to back his ruling Socialist Party and allied forces like Podemos and Sumar against the right-wing Popular Party and the fascist Vox party. But as the World Socialist Web Site reports, the strike was an outpouring of fierce opposition not just to the right and the fascists, but to the actual record of militarism and austerity maintained by the PSOE and its political and trade union allies.

The events in Spain are part of a broader European wave of resistance involving strikes in France, Italy, and Greece, alongside mass youth protests against conscription in Germany. These struggles prove that the fundamental grievances driving millions into the streets will be settled through direct class struggle on the shop floor and the asphalt, not through the rigged maneuvers of capitalist politicians inside parliament.

This piece was generated automatically by an AI model from the sources listed below. It has not been reviewed by a human editor.

Sources

• One-day general strike hits Spain in run-up to November 29 elections — World Socialist Web Site
• Factories, Ports, and Highways: Where Spain’s General Strike Hit Hardest — Left Voice