Spain's first general strike in 14 years over housing: unions, employers dispute turnout

The unions want more government intervention in the housing market and a new agreement on the minimum wage, negotiated with the employers. UGT's general secretary, Pepe Alvarez, said housing costs were rising so fast that no salary could keep pace. The figures behind the anger are stark: average rents in Spain have nearly doubled over ten years, the average gross monthly salary is about 2,460 euros, and renting a 50 square metre flat in Madrid cost an average of 1,170 euros a month in October, nearly half that salary. The Youth Council of Spain says rent takes 98.7% of the average young person's income, where housing experts commonly advise no more than 30%. Inflation reached 4.9% in September and October, its highest in more than three years.

The unions said the action was aimed at all levels of the state and not only the right, which voted down the government's housing decrees. Valeria Racu of the Madrid Tenants' Union said her aim was to put an end to the housing business in the country.

What happened on the day

Public transport was disrupted despite minimum-service rules for commuter trains, metros and buses, especially in and around Barcelona. In Madrid, the metro ran 93% of its trains early in the morning, but passenger numbers were down by about half, and many shops opened as normal. Some businesses, factories and shops reduced operations or closed.

The two sides gave different pictures of the turnout.

The unions acknowledged that participation was uneven. There were minor incidents in the first hours: roadblocks with burning tyres in Barcelona and scuffles between pickets and police at Mercamadrid, Madrid's main wholesale market. No arrests were reported in the accounts available.

Politics before the election

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called the election, which was due in 2027, after his minority government failed to pass a housing package in parliament. He said in an interview that the strike was not aimed against anyone and was meant to secure a common response to the problem of access to housing. The conservative Popular Party and the far-right Vox criticised it. The Popular Party leader, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, whose party leads the opinion polls, called the strike a serious mistake and warned that the unions could be tied to Sanchez forever, citing the high-speed train collision last month that killed 69 people. Business groups called the action an election protest and not a genuine labour dispute.

Other reports put the unions' claim of participation at four million workers, a figure the business lobby disputed. Angela de Miguel, a vice president of the CEOE, said the strike was counterproductive because small businesses are also hurt by the housing crisis. The anger has been building for months and comes against a grim backdrop: the strike came after the country's second fatal train crash this year, which unions also hold the central government responsible for, and the Popular Party's lead in the polls suggests that a change of government is a real possibility on 29 November.

Voices from the marches show the mood. Paula Diaz, a 25-year-old theatre technician, said people work a lot and it still isn't enough to pay the rent. Maria Pinana, a 34-year-old microbiologist in Barcelona, said the law of supply and demand does not apply to housing and that rents should be regulated. Isabel Iglesias, a 27-year-old nurse in Madrid, who pays 1,000 euros in rent with her partner, said Sanchez could have done much more.

Spain is the euro area's fourth-largest economy, so the vote on 29 November, with housing at its centre, will be watched across Europe. Whether the strike changes anything depends on whether the next government, which polls say will be on the right, takes up the unions' demands on rents and wages.