(London = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Ji-yeon = As protests against the housing crisis continue to not subside in Spain, the ruling and opposition parties have begun a campaign for early general elections.
According to AFP on the 10th (local time), Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will announce the start of the general election campaign in Dos Hermanas, a city outside Seville, Andalusia Metropolitan Autonomous Region.
Dos Hermanas is the traditional stronghold of the ruling Socialist Labor Party (PSOE) led by Prime Minister Sánchez, and is also where Prime Minister Sánchez, who resigned as party leader after taking responsibility for the crushing defeat in the 2016 general election, made a political comeback.
Prime Minister Sánchez said in an interview with the progressive online media El Diario, “Spain needs more social progress and the insults we receive from the right must be reduced.” He also said he wanted to prevent unjust housing evictions like the Maricarmen Abascal incident.
Abascal, an 87-year-old man who was evicted from the home he had lived in for most of his life, sparked massive protests over the housing shortage in Spain.
When Abascal died on the 7th, 20,000 protesters held a memorial march in Madrid, the capital, the next day, on the 8th.
Mourners are leaving flowers and letters in front of the apartment building where Abascal lived. Sara (41), who came with her son and left a letter that said, 'Maricarmen, we will fight for you,' expressed her anger to the Daily Guardian, saying, "Maricarmen's death shows how society allows people to die without caring for them."
Protests demanding the ‘right to housing’ are also taking place in Barcelona, Catalonia.
On the 5th, a protest was held with 20,000 people participating (police estimates, organizers estimate 120,000), and as it intensified, 13 people were arrested and 30 police officers suffered minor injuries, Euronews reported.
On the 9th, people also protested holding placards that read, "What's the problem? We don't have a home."
Spanish protesters and major labor unions are also calling for a general strike to increase political pressure on housing shortage and wage issues before the general election on the 11th of next month. If a large-scale general strike occurs, it will be the first time since 2012.
Prime Minister Sánchez announced early general elections next month after the government's hastily prepared tenant protection measure bill was rejected in Congress due to opposition from the opposition.
However, it is unknown whether Prime Minister Sánchez, who first took office as prime minister in 2018, will remain in office.
According to the results of a daily El Pais opinion poll on the 9th, the main opposition People's Party (PP) and the far-right Vox party were predicted to secure a comfortable majority by winning 198 of the 350 seats in the House of Representatives, Reuters reported.
A poll by the website El Confidencial also predicted that the National Party and Vox Party would win 200 seats.
The People's Party won the 2023 general election, but even when combined with the Vox Party, it did not reach a majority, so the Socialist Party formed a government in alliance with the leftist Sumar.
The Vox Party is currently forming a coalition with the National Party in four regional autonomous provinces, but if it enters the Spanish central government, it will be the first time since Spain achieved democracy after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.
Alberto Núñez Payjo, leader of the National Party, will also campaign in Madrid on the 10th and begin his campaign to run for the position of prime minister for the second time following the 2023 general election.
While immigration issues along with the housing crisis are becoming major issues in this general election, Representative Payho is launching a fierce attack on the Sánchez government over immigration issues, including the migrant invasion of Ceuta, an autonomous city in North Africa.
