Spain Faces 24-Hour General Strike Over Housing Crisis
Unions say 90% of workers in some sectors joined the walkout as housing activists pressed for rent limits and stronger tenant protections.
- On Wednesday, November 11, 2026, millions of Spanish workers participated in a 24-hour general strike, paralyzing transport and industry to demand government action on the nation's severe housing affordability crisis.
- Nationwide outrage over the September eviction and death of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal fueled the walkout, as soaring rents and a structural deficit of 750,000 homes leave many citizens unable to afford housing.
- Major unions UGT and CCOO reported 90% participation in automotive and port sectors, though police pepper-sprayed protesters at Madrid's Mercamadrid wholesale market, leaving at least 13 people seeking medical attention.
- Opposition parties dismissed the protest as a political maneuver ahead of the November 29 snap election, with Popular Party spokesperson Miguel Tellado calling it an "election strike" rather than a labor action.
- With the snap election approaching, the strike underscores intense political polarization over housing, as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez faces trailing polls and a potential challenge from a far-right coalition.
649 Articles
649 Articles
Millions join Spain’s first general strike in 14 years in protest at housing crisis
MADRID —Four million Spanish workers joined the country’s first general strike in 14 years, enduring stormy weather to protest against soaring housing prices less than three weeks before an election in which the far right could be catapulted into power.At the center of Wednesday’s nationwide 24-hour stoppage, called for by tenants’ associations and later backed by workers’ unions, is a pushback against Spain’s deepening housing crisis.It is the …
Millions of Spaniards participated in a general strike on Wednesday to protest the country's housing crisis.
Protests occur less than three weeks after the elections in which the socialist Pedro Sanchez will seek his re-election.
Millions Join Spain's First General Strike Since 2012
Millions of Spanish workers shut down businesses and public transport across the eurozone's four-largest economy on Wednesday before tens of thousands took to the streets of major cities in a nationwide protest over soaring incomes and real estate prices. Housing activists hop the massive show of force will lead to...
Spain: 120,000 brave rain to demand affordable housing and better wages
Around 120,000 demonstrators marched through central Madrid on Wednesday 11 November, according to authorities, as Spain's first nationwide general strike since 2012 brought crowds onto the streets to protest against soaring housing costs and mounting pressure on household budgets.
Masked men and police have clashed in Barcelona in connection with a general strike. Streets are burning and shop windows have been smashed. Several people have been arrested.
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