Spain’s First General Strike in 14 Years Disrupts Transport & Public Services

Spain’s biggest labour unions called their first nationwide general strike together in 14 years on November 11, demanding affordable housing, higher wages and stronger public services. Pickets blocked roads, trains and flights were cancelled, and people marched in Madrid and Barcelona. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez defended the strike and backed its demands. His government is trying to get two housing decrees through a vote on November 12, before Spaniards elect a new parliament on November 29.

Why did workers go on strike over rent?

The unions’ argument was that wages were failing to cover the cost of a place to live. Tenant groups helped drive the campaign, and Spain’s two biggest labour unions, UGT and CCOO, brought workplaces into it. A general strike calls on workers across industries to stop work together. Their previous joint nationwide general strike, in 2012, was over austerity during the eurozone debt crisis. This time, the unions put housing alongside pay and public services.

Employers’ groups said participation was low and uneven. A vice-president of the business confederation CEOE told Reuters the walkout was counterproductive for small employers, which were themselves finding it harder to hire in places where workers struggled to find homes.

Who was Maricarmen Abascal?

Abascal was 87 when she was evicted on September 23 from the Madrid flat she had called home for about seven decades. Her father signed the original lease in 1956. It passed to her mother and then to her. The owner argued in court that her right to continue under the inherited lease had expired.

Protesters pitched tents in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square. Abascal accepted an offer to return under a new eight-year lease, but died in hospital on October 7 before signing it. Her case gave a national housing dispute a person and an address. On November 11, tenant organisers invoked her case again before the Madrid march.

How expensive has it become to rent?

In October, property portal Idealista put advertised rents in Madrid at €23.40 per square metre per month. That works out to €1,170 for a 50-square-metre flat at that rate. For a national illustration, the Spanish Youth Council’s study for the end of 2025 compared a €1,176 monthly rent for a whole home with the monthly pay of a young worker. The rent came to 98.7% of the pay figure the council used. That comparison shows what it would cost to rent alone. People can pay less by sharing a home or staying with family.

Why hasn’t Spain built enough homes?

The Bank of Spain points to a basic mismatch. Demand has grown quickly and supply has struggled to keep up, especially in urban areas where people want to live and work. It identifies constraints on building and notes that homes in high-demand areas may also be used for tourist stays or seasonal rentals. The European Commission estimates that housing set aside for social purposes accounts for only 1.5% to 1.7% of Spain’s housing stock, against an EU average of 6% to 7%. That leaves many households looking for homes on the private market.

How big was the November 11 strike?

A tenants’ confederation estimated that four million people took part. El País reported tens of thousands on the streets in each of Madrid and Barcelona, more than 280 flight cancellations during the day and at least 42 arrests across several cities. Those figures measure different things. Someone can join a march without taking the day off, and a cancelled train can affect many people who did go to work.

There’s another measure. EFE reported that electricity consumption up to 11am was 7.5% below what grid operator Red Eléctrica had forecast for that period on a day without the strike. A slowdown in energy-intensive workplaces can show up in electricity demand. It still leaves the nationwide headcount disputed.

Why did Sánchez back the protesters?

He defended workers’ right to strike and presented their demands as a fight for better living conditions. For his Socialist Party, the strike also offered a chance to put housing at the centre of a campaign in which it was trailing in polls. The opposition People’s Party accused the government of using the strike for electoral advantage. And Abascal herself, before her eviction, had criticised Sánchez’s government as well as Madrid’s regional and city leaders over housing.

How did a housing fight bring forward the election?

On October 2, the lower house of parliament rejected two government decrees on housing. Sánchez called an early election, and his cabinet approved revised versions of both measures on October 6. With parliament dissolved, the decrees went to the Diputación Permanente, the smaller group of lawmakers that keeps certain parliamentary functions going between elections. The official campaign begins November 13.

What would the two decrees actually change?

The wider package includes temporary extensions for eligible rental contracts, eviction protections for vulnerable people without alternative housing, and measures to increase the supply of affordable homes. The separate decree changes how leases for a tenant’s main home renew. After the minimum term, the lease would roll over for five years, or seven if the landlord is a company, unless either side gives notice. The decree would require landlords who choose against renewal to compensate tenants in many cases. The two texts go to separate votes.

How is India trying to make renting more affordable?

India’s urban housing programme, PMAY-U 2.0, includes an affordable rental housing scheme designed to put homes closer to workplaces for people such as migrant workers, industrial workers and working women. The programme allows existing vacant government-funded homes to be converted into rentals, and also supports proposals to build and operate new rental homes. That addresses one side of Spain’s problem too. A secure lease helps once you have a home. The supply of affordable homes determines how many people can find one.

Can Spain’s rent measures survive the November 12 vote?

The two decrees may meet different fates. Idealista reported on November 11 that the broader package appeared to have enough support in the smaller parliamentary body and that the lease-renewal decree still lacked a majority. The vote will show which protections Sánchez can secure before the campaign starts. On November 29, voters will choose the parliament that will have to deal with the shortage behind the strike.