Spain’s major unions Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) on 19 October 2026 in Madrid together with the Sindicato de Inquilinas and several smaller organisations, registered a 24-hour general strike for 11 November 2026 with the Ministerio de Trabajo y Economía Social . According to the organisers, the call is against the worsening housing crisis and in favour of higher wages.
“Esta es una huelga de la gente,” said Valeria Racu, spokesperson for the Sindicato de Inquilinas in Madrid, when the registration was announced jointly. Alongside CCOO and UGT, nationally active minority unions such as CGT, CNT, Unión de Actores y Actrices, CO.BAS, Solidaridad Obrera and Intersindical support the move. Regional organisations such as ELA and LAB in the Basque Country, as well as the Galician CIG also backed the call.
Key demands include effective limits on rising rents, protection against evictions, tighter regulation of major investment players in the housing market, and wage rises that keep pace with household costs. CCOO and UGT also emphasise tackling unpaid or unlawful overtime and point to high corporate profit margins in the current climate.
Registering the industrial action is the formal step by which the organisers make their intention public and set in motion arrangements for minimum services and work schedules in the sectors concerned. In Spain, minimum service levels are usually set by the relevant authorities. No binding information about talks between the government and unions specifically concerning this registration was announced on Monday.
The organisers describe the mobilisation as “offensive” — a response to continued pressure on rents and real incomes. Whether the action on 11 November will affect large parts of the public sector, retail and industry depends on participation in workplaces and cannot be reliably quantified in advance. What is clear is that a broadly supported signal could increase political pressure to negotiate short-term relief in the housing market and binding wage paths through collective bargaining rounds.
The information is based on the registration made in Madrid on 19 October, statements by the unions involved and accompanying national reports.
Editor: Daniel Mayer (Article created with AI assistance).