Spain Faces 24-Hour General Strike Over Housing Crisis
Unions said the walkout drew strong support in heavy industry and transport as they pressed for rent controls 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.
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Rents Double in 10 Years; Spain Launches Nationwide General Strike for the First Time in 14 Years Ahead of General Election. Spanish workers launched a nationwide general strike on the 11th in protest of soaring housing prices and rents. Large-scale demonstrations demanding a solution to the housing crisis also took place in major cities, including the capital Madrid and Barcelona. In Spain, the two major labor federations
A general strike was held in Spain for the first time in 14 years on Wednesday to protest the worsening housing crisis and soaring property prices, the Guardian reports. The 24-hour work stoppage was called by tenants' associations, which were later joined by trade unions. According to organisers, around four million people took part in the strike. The strike has paralysed several sectors, with union figures showing 90 per cent participation in …
At the end of the first general strike in 14 years, mass protests against rising rents and housing prices are taking place.
Spain’s first general strike in 14 years puts social and political tensions in focus
Millions of workers across Spain joined the country's first general strike in 14 years on November 11, protesting soaring rents, unaffordable housing and rising living costs. Backed by major trade unions, the nationwide walkout disrupted transport and businesses, with demonstrations in Madrid and Barcelona. The protests have also intensified political tensions ahead of Spain's November 29 snap election.
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 …
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