Clashes broke out between protesters and police in Barcelona as tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Spain for the country’s first general strike in 14 years, demanding action on rising living costs and the housing crisis.
The nationwide strike, organised by Spain’s two main trade unions, UGT and CC OO, caused widespread disruption to transport and public services on Wednesday, just weeks before the country’s parliamentary elections on 29 November.
Around 120,000 people joined demonstrations in Madrid, while more than 50,000 gathered in Barcelona, where tensions escalated as groups of masked individuals set fire to rubbish bins and smashed shop windows.
Police responded with tear gas, while the Interior Ministry reported dozens of arrests following incidents across the country.
The strike was driven by growing frustration over housing affordability and rising living costs, with rental prices increasing significantly in major Spanish cities.
Public anger intensified following the September eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from her Madrid apartment, where she had lived for seven decades. She died in hospital several weeks later.
According to property portal Idealista, the average monthly rent for a 50-square-metre apartment in Madrid reached €1,170 ($1,295) in October, compared with Spain’s average gross monthly salary of approximately €2,460 ($2,718).
This means renting such an apartment would consume nearly half the average gross salary, significantly exceeding the 30 per cent affordability benchmark commonly used by housing experts.
Wednesday’s demonstrations also disrupted traffic on major roads around Madrid and Barcelona, while reports emerged of attacks on estate agency offices.
Union leaders welcomed the turnout, with UGT head Pepe Álvarez describing participation as “massive”, while CC OO leader Unai Sordo called it “very significant”.
The protests come at a politically sensitive time for Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who called snap parliamentary elections last month after lawmakers rejected his proposed housing reforms.
Sánchez and members of his government have expressed support for the strike, encouraging workers to demand more affordable housing. “Your eight-hour day. Your pension. Your public healthcare… These were collective conquests,” Sánchez wrote on social media, highlighting the role of previous labour movements in securing workers’ rights.
However, the opposition conservative People’s Party (PP) accused the government of using the demonstrations for political advantage ahead of the election.
PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo dismissed the general strike as “nonsense” and criticised the unions, while party spokesman Miguel Tellado accused the government of exploiting the protests to influence voters.
The PP is leading in opinion polls ahead of the 29 November vote, with housing affordability and the cost of living emerging as major election issues.
The strike highlights growing public dissatisfaction over economic pressures, placing housing policy at the centre of Spain’s political debate as voters prepare to head to the polls.
Nvidia's board is scheduled to meet to decide whether to remove CEO Jensen Huang following reports of extramarital affairs, including one invol...
The competitiveness of international trade depends on how efficiently goods move across borders. These issues are in focus at the 22nd Internationa...
Clashes broke out between protesters and police in Barcelona as tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Spain for the country’...
Delegations from Russia, Ukraine and the United States met in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for their first formal talks in nine months. They did so with no agreement on what a ceasefire would be tied to or who gets to keep the land currently under Russian control.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a stark warning at this year's COP31 summit, saying the climate crisis iss advancing faster than governments' efforts to contain it.
At least 17 people have been reported killed in an explosion at a steel plant in western Türkiye, after a crane collapsed during maintenance work. The disaster has prompted a criminal investigation into what went wrong at the industrial facility.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 11 November. Today, we cover Russia-Ukraine peace talks, political tensions in Washington, strikes in Spain, espionage allegations involving Nvidia's CEO, and climate negotiations at COP31 in Türkiye.
U.S. envoy Jared Kushner said Washington believes the Russian President is prepared to reach a peace agreement under the right conditions, as U.S., Russian and Ukrainian delegations began trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday 10 November.
Russia and Ukraine exchanged drone attacks targeting their capitals early on Thursday, as U.S. envoys prepared to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow following two days of peace talks that ended without a breakthrough on major issues.
Investigators found a sticky note bearing the names and mobile phone numbers of four left-wing public figures while searching the home of the suspect in last month’s deadly shooting near Paris, France’s national anti-terrorism prosecution office (PNAT) said on Wednesday.
The United States and China should have “no illusions” about their differences on artificial intelligence, even as they work together to manage the technology’s risks, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said.
Pope Leo arrived in Peru on Wednesday for an emotional homecoming, the first Peruvian citizen to lead the Catholic Church, after wrapping up a visit to Argentina that drew a record six million people over three days.
Iran will not let a single particle of its enriched nuclear material leave the country, and any new U.S. attack would be met with strikes on distant American bases, Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei has said.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment