On the 11th, Spain held its first general strike in 14 years, called by major labor unions due to housing shortages and rising living costs. Approximately 120,000 people took part in the demonstration in the capital Madrid. In Barcelona, more than 50,000 people took part, and there were clashes between masked groups and police.
The strike was carried out in response to widespread protests over housing prices that remain largely out of reach and the continuing rise in the cost of living. Spain sparked widespread protests in September after Maricarmen Abascal, 87, who lived in Madrid, was forced to leave the apartment she had lived in for 70 years. She died two weeks later in the hospital.
Video footage taken in Barcelona on Saturday night showed masked people setting trash cans on fire and breaking shop windows. In response, police fired tear gas. There was a heavy presence of police in the city center wearing helmets and carrying riot shields.
On Paseo de Gràcia, the main street near the city's iconic Plaza Catalunya, trash cans were set on fire, causing a small fire in the middle of the road. Local media reported that some people fired fireworks at police and looted businesses, including a Lego store. Protesters were also seen trying to break into the Apple Store.
A woman who took part in the demonstration in the city told the BBC that the protests were largely peaceful and "fun". He said there were "a lot of children and elderly people" who took part to protest against rising housing costs. "There were flames everywhere and it was very tense," he said, adding that he saw fires breaking out on the streets around Las Ramblas during the night.
There was widespread chaos around Madrid and Barcelona, with traffic stopped on several major roads.
"We brought the city to a complete standstill," a demonstrator in Madrid told Reuters. "Everyone's out, even though it's raining. Everyone's on the streets," he said, adding that various people were supporting the general strike.
Another demonstrator, teacher Olga Domingo, 37, said: ``The housing situation is terrible.The current cost of living is at a level where wages are simply not enough.''
The Interior Ministry announced that dozens of people were arrested in various cases. Local media reported that the offices of a real estate company were attacked.
Pepe Álvarez, head of the major trade union UGT, said the strike was a success due to the "tremendous" number of people who took part. Unai Sordo, from the union CC OO, said the participation rate was "very high".
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Rent prices have continued to rise in Madrid in recent years. According to real estate portal site Idealista, the average rent (in October) for a 50 square meter apartment was 1,170 euros (approximately 200,000 yen) per month.
This is equivalent to almost half of the national average monthly income (approximately 2,460 euros). This is significantly higher than the 30% recommended by experts and public institutions as a reasonable proportion of housing costs.
The government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (Socialist Party) submitted a housing reform bill to Congress, which rejected it last month. In response, the prime minister announced that parliament would be dissolved and a general election would be held on November 29.
Differences from past general strikes
The first general strike in Spain was carried out in 2012 under the conservative government of Mariano Rajoy.
While past strikes have been troublesome for the regime, this time things are different. Prime Minister Sánchez and other ministers are urging workers to go on strike and demand affordable housing.
"Your eight-hour working day, your pension, your public healthcare system...all were won through collective strength," the prime minister wrote on social media, praising those who took part in previous strikes.
Image provided by EPA
Meanwhile, the conservative opposition People's Party (PP) has accused the government of trying to use the strike as political leverage to win the election.
The party's leader, Alberto Nuñez Fayho, called the general strike "nonsense" and criticized the unions as "mafia" and "trash." The party is believed to be leading in opinion polls ahead of the general election. Spokesperson Miguel Terrado accused the government of using the strike to encourage voters not to allow a right-wing government to be formed after the elections.
"It's nonsense to question the right of workers to strike," Prime Minister Sánchez said on Spanish television this week.
Buying a house is ``totally impossible''
Gonzalo Álvarez, a 27-year-old salesman who was visiting various picket lines in central Madrid during the general strike, rents a small studio apartment in the Arganzuela district in the south of the city with his girlfriend, a dental hygienist. She told the BBC that they both pay €1,000 a month in rent, and each spends about half of their salary on housing costs.
"It's a completely strange situation. Food, electricity, water, gas."
"I would have to earn a tremendous amount of money to buy a house. I can't afford it with my current salary."
At current rents and house prices, he says it's "completely impossible" to buy a home elsewhere.
Alvarez said the eviction of 87-year-old Abascal, whose rent was suddenly multiplied by his landlord, an investment company, served as a "small spark" that ignited his protests.
Alvarez said she knew Abascal and was deeply troubled by the way she was treated.
Meanwhile, Miguel Garrido, vice president of CEOE, Spain's largest economic association, criticized the strike, saying there was little connection between rising house prices and business activity.
"This is not a strike for labor issues, but for political reasons. It is closely related to the early holding of elections."
(English article Clashes erupt in Barcelona after thousands join Spain general strike)
