Demonstrations in Spain: Tens of thousands protest against the housing crisis

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated against the housing crisis in numerous Spanish cities. In Madrid, the authorities counted around 120,000 demonstrators. The tenant associations that called for the protest put the number of participants there at around 600,000. In Barcelona, ​​the city police estimated the number of participants at 55,000.

The protests came at the end of the first all-day general strike in 14 years - and just two and a half weeks before new parliamentary elections.

Riots in Madrid and Barcelona

The demonstrations were largely peaceful in the evening. However, there were riots in Madrid and Barcelona after the rally ended. After the protest marches, masked demonstrators threw objects at police officers and set garbage containers on fire, as journalists from the AFP news agency reported.

The police used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse small groups of demonstrators. There were 18 arrests in Barcelona.

General strike paralyzes parts of public life

The general strike had previously paralyzed public life and the economy. At road blockades, there were scuffles between pickets, drivers and the police, television images showed. While the left-wing government supported the strike, the right-wing opposition parties criticized the action as ideologically motivated.

"The general strike is a complete success that exceeds our expectations," wrote the CCOO trade union federation on the platform The employers' association CEOE, however, spoke of only "minimal" participation in the single-digit percentage range.

Police arrested at least 52 people at various protests across the country, TV station RTVE reported. The unions accused the police of sometimes overly harsh intervention.

Those affected by the strike included large car manufacturers such as Volkswagen in Pamplona and the VW subsidiary Seat in Martorell, as well as wholesale markets and commercial ports such as Algeciras.

Pensioner had to vacate her apartment - protests began

The protests against rising rents and housing shortages, and thus also the strike, were triggered by the forced eviction from the apartment of pensioner Maricarmen Abascal in Madrid in September. After Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez subsequently failed in parliament to tighten tenant protections due to the right-wing opposition, he called new elections for November 29th.

According to surveys, it cannot be ruled out that the right-wing opposition made up of the conservative PP and the right-wing populist Vox could win the election.

By declaring a general strike, the two large trade union confederations CCOO and UGT also responded to the demands of tenants' associations. They had called for nationwide demonstrations after 87-year-old Abascal was forcibly taken from her apartment by the police. A few days later she died in hospital.

The housing crisis in Spain has steadily worsened in recent years. Rents and property prices are rising significantly faster than real wages. People are having to spend an increasing proportion of their disposable monthly income on rent.