Millions of Workers Shut Down Spain With First General Strike in 14 Years

Spanish workers braved stormy weather to go on general strike in protest against the country’s housing crisis on Wednesday.

Unions reported 90% turnouts among dockworkers and carmakers, as millions downed tools three weeks before a snap general election. There were “total stoppages” at Volkswagen’s factory in Navarre and SEAT’s in Barcelona, organisers said.

Around 85% of meat industry workers, 82% of waste collection employees and 75% from the energy sector are also taking part, they added. In healthcare and ⁠social services roughly 38% are striking while 35% of postal service workers have also joined.

The 24-hour strike, Spain’s first in 14 years, is backed by the country’s two biggest unions, UGT and CCOO, as well as tenants’ associations fighting rising rents and evictions.

“We won’t stop until we transform this country’s housing model from top to bottom so that houses are for living instead of being at the service of the rentier minority,” said Alicia del Rio of the Madrid Tenants’ Union.

Mass protest marches were planned for Wednesday afternoon despite the expected arrival of two storms, Charles and Bruna.

Unions pointed to a 10% drop in electricity demand across the country, saying it shows that activity in energy-intensive industries such as steel processing had come to a halt.

Barcelona’s metro is only running during peak commuting hours. Protesters swarmed Madrid’s municipal bus depot in an attempt to stop busses from moving and dragged wheelie bins into roads in order to stop traffic. Shops in Barcelona were closed in anticipation of unrest.

The CCOO union said on X that 13 people in Madrid needed medical attention after police fired pepper spray at picketers. “It’s a disgrace that workers are being prevented from exercising their right to strike,” the union said.

Spain has witnessed weeks of protests over housing, sparked by the eviction and subsequent death of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal. 

The country  has a deficit of 750,000 homes, which is set to grow to over a million by 2028. The average rental price of a home – €1,176 – is equivalent to 98.7% of the average young person’s monthly salary, according to the Youth Council of Spain.

The protests have led Spain’s government to call a snap election on 29 November, after it was unable to pass housing reforms in the legislature, where it lacks an outright majority. 

With the far-right ahead in the polls, Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party prime minister Pedro Sanchez is hoping to mobilise his base around the housing crisis despite criticism from protesters that his government has failed to address the issue for years. 

A train c that killed dozens on the high speed line south from Madrid last month – the country’s fourth deadly train crash this year –  has also damaged confidence in Sanchez’s government.