In Spain began a general strike on 11 November, calling for affordable housing and higher wages. Trade unions and tenants’ organisations called a 24-hour strike. According to the news agency Europa Press, the strike began at midnight and is due to last until the end of the day.
The organisers include the major trade unions Comisiones Obreras and Unión General de Trabajadores as well as other workers’ and tenants’ organisations. They registered the strike with the Labour Ministry on 19 October. The reason, in their view, is high Housing costs and the difficulty many workers face in making ends meet on their income.
The trade unions are calling for improvements to wages and workers’ rights, as well as political responses to the housing crisis. The tenants’ union links the protest to its demand for affordable housing. According to the Unión General de Trabajadores, both public authorities and the social partners should respond to the demands.
Assessments of how many workers are taking part vary. In Madrid, the regional employers’ association said in the morning that participation in the private sector was below 10 per cent. The regional branches of the two major trade unions, by contrast, described participation as widespread. These assessments are not directly comparable: they do not necessarily cover the same groups of workers and are based on figures from different interest groups.
Preliminary figures also came in from other regions. In Aragon Comisiones Obreras and Unión General de Trabajadores put participation on the night and early shifts at more than 70 per cent. This does not provide an independently verified nationwide total.
The newspaper elDiario.es describes the strike as an expression of the burden that has built up over the years from rents and purchase prices. For rental homes in particular, it is important to distinguish between existing contracts and prices for newly advertised properties: people looking for a home may face different costs from a household with an older contract.
According to Europa Press, Spain’s employers’ association criticised the call as political and election-related. The trade unions reject this characterisation and stress the mobilisation’s labour and social policy aims. Demonstrations are planned alongside the strikes.
Editor: Daniel Mayer (Article created with AI assistance).