Spain strike brings housing anger and disruption into focus

Workers across Spain staged the country’s first nationwide general strike since 2012 on 11 November, protesting housing affordability and purchasing power. Demonstrations took place in cities including Madrid and Barcelona, alongside reported transport disruption and sharply different accounts of the strike’s reach.

• Authorities estimated that 120,000 people marched in central Madrid and 55,000 in Barcelona; housing activists gave a higher estimate for Barcelona.
• UGT described participation as massive in some regions and industries, while the CEOE said activity was normal in most sectors.
• Reports described road and public transport disruption, though Madrid Metro said 93% of its trains ran in the early morning.

Crowds and disruption across Spain

Reuters, republished by RTÉ, reported demonstrations in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Valencia and Zaragoza. It said authorities estimated that 120,000 people marched in central Madrid and 55,000 in Barcelona. Deutsche Welle reported the same official estimates and separately cited housing activists’ claim that 400,000 attended the Barcelona march. These are competing estimates, not a single verified crowd count.

UGT leader Pepe Alvarez described participation to Spanish public broadcaster RTVE as “massive” and the stoppage in some regions as “total”. UGT also acknowledged uneven participation, with strong mobilisation in car manufacturing, petrochemicals and meat production, as well as in coastal regions. The CEOE business organisation called the strike “a failure”, said activity was normal in most sectors and cited electricity demand down about 5%, which it described as significantly lower than in previous strikes. The reports do not establish a comprehensive count of workers who joined.

Deutsche Welle reported that most protests were peaceful, while small groups in Barcelona smashed shopfront windows, set bins alight and fired fireworks towards police. At Madrid’s Mercamadrid market, strikers told the outlet that police used pepper spray; the report said at least 13 people sought medical attention, attributing that figure to the strikers.

Why housing and prices drove the strike

UGT and CCOO called the strike after nationwide protests over access to housing, Reuters reported. It said inflation reached 4.9% in September and October, its highest level in more than three years. Isabel Iglesias, a nurse in Madrid, told Reuters that she and her partner paid €1,000 in rent and that she earned €1,700 a month; she said housing was the issue affecting her most.

Deutsche Welle cited central-bank estimates of a housing deficit of about 750,000 homes, projected in its report to exceed one million by 2028. It also cited a youth council estimate that average rent was €1,176, equivalent to 99% of the average young person’s salary. The figures describe different measures of housing pressure.

What it means

The demonstrations brought housing and living costs into public view weeks before an early election. Reuters reported that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the election after his minority government failed to secure parliamentary approval for a package of housing measures; the vote had initially been scheduled for 2027. France 24 also reported that a snap election had been called. The scale of worker participation and the strike’s overall economic impact remain unquantified in the reports.