General strike in Spain for affordable housing

A general strike is taking place in Spain less than three weeks before the early parliamentary elections. Wage increases are required to compensate for rising rents and higher costs of living.

Since early morning, demonstrators have been blocking important roads in many places, and pickets have been set up in front of logistics centers and factories. Several dozen people were arrested in clashes with the police. The unions accused the police of excessively harsh intervention. In addition, there were sometimes significant disruptions to local public transport.

The major unions UGT and CCOO described the start of the strike day as a success. Participation is significant across the country. The production facilities in the automobile, meat and heavy industry would sometimes go on complete strike. Electricity consumption fell by ten percent in the morning and was more in line with that of a Sunday.

Employers' associations, on the other hand, speak of irregular strike participation. Participation is particularly low in the hotel and restaurant industry. There will be large demonstrations in the evening, including in Barcelona and Madrid.

It is the first major general strike since 2012. The housing crisis has been one of the most pressing social problems in Spain for years. The unions are calling, among other things, for the construction of 1.5 million social housing units in the coming years and a ban on the eviction of vulnerable tenants.

In September, the eviction from the apartment of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal, who had lived in her Madrid apartment for more than seven decades, reignited the debate about affordable rents. A dispute over measures proposed by the government for more tenant protection ultimately led to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez calling new elections for November 29th.