BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Less than three weeks until a national election that could catapult the far right to power, millions of Spanish workers are striking on Wednesday to demand the government address the country’s housing crisis.
The general strike – Spain’s first in 14 years – is causing delays in the public transport system and a slowdown in factories in the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy. Many schools and universities have reportedly closed their doors or are operating at a minimum. In the capital, Madrid, this comes on top of an ongoing strike launched by teachers almost a month ago to demand better working conditions.
In Barcelona, the country’s second-largest city, public transport was at a standstill or facing long delays during the morning rush hour. In Madrid, which experienced heavy rain in the morning, city buses were hit hardest. Unions have called on Madrid workers to gather and march through the city center later on Wednesday. Marches and rallies are also planned in Barcelona and other cities.
The two main unions calling for the strike, the UGT and the CCOO, said in a statement that participation was broad, “with significant work stoppages in strategic sectors”: 90% in the automotive and port sectors, 85% in the meat industry, 82% in waste collection and 75% in the energy sector.
“It is extremely important to remind people that we, the workers – who are also tenants or who also pay mortgages – are the ones who have the power to stop production and paralyze the economy,” Sandra Mora, spokesperson for the Tenants’ Union, told national radio RNE.
Minor incidents were reported in the early hours of the strike, including roadblocks – some with burning tires – in Barcelona and scuffles between protesters and police near the country’s main wholesale market on the outskirts of Madrid.
At the stroke of midnight on Wednesday, strikers set off fireworks as they gathered in public squares in Barcelona.
Workers and activists want more government action on housing
Wednesday’s strike brought together workers, activists, politicians and ordinary Spaniards around the same interests: affordable housing. The average rent in Spain has almost doubled over the past 10 years, eating into household budgets and angering voters.
“There is an issue that divides the country: the struggle to access housing,” Unai Sordo, secretary general of CCOO, said on Cadena Ser radio.
Public anger over housing reached a boiling point after the nationally televised eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her Madrid home last month. The sequel death of Maricarmenas the woman became known, caused even more outrage and solidified it as a symbol Spaniards who believe they pay too much for their rent and cannot even dream of owning a property.
Housing activists took advantage of the uproar over Maricarmen’s eviction to call a general strike. They quickly obtained the support of the UGT and CCOO unions.
Housing activists are calling for several measures, including the elimination of tourist apartments, a crackdown on real estate speculation and protection for tenants in the form of automatic lease renewals.
The UGT and CCOO unions are demanding more government intervention in the housing market and a new agreement on the minimum wage through negotiations with the business owners’ association.
The Spanish left hopes to put the spotlight back on housing
Nationwide protests against Maricarmen’s eviction have pushed the Spanish government to adopt emergency measures to limit evictions and help tenants, but right-wing parties in Parliament refused to ratify them on the grounds that they would cause a flight of properties from the rental market.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez responded by redoubling his political efforts and called the elections on October 5, hoping to win four more years in power for his left-wing coalition.
But then came a brutal collision with a high-speed train — Second deadly rail disaster of the year in Spain. This collision, which left 69 dead, dominated Spanish news and created a dragging Sánchez’s campaign just when he had hoped to build momentum.
The strike – with its official slogan “Wages. Accommodation. Price “. — is an opportunity for Sánchez’s Socialists and other left-wing parties that he will need to stay in power, said analyst Oriol Bartomeus.
“Socialists need the strike to be successful and there to be no violence so the election campaign can become focused on housing again,” Bartomeus, a political science professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, told the Associated Press.
On Thursday, the government will try again to have a reduced interim parliament ratify the two housing decrees that the lower house plenary rejected last month.
Sánchez published a lengthy video on social media this week, in which he praised previous social policies, such as the 40-hour work week and national health insurance, which were the fruit of the labor movement and the right to strike.
“It hasn’t been easy, but they have changed Spain,” Sánchez said, while warning that right-wing parties would impose austerity and underfunded social services.
Verónica Martínez, spokesperson for Sumar, the youngest member of the government, said separately that “the left needs the workers of this country to mobilize. Rights are won first in the streets and then in the institution.”
The right could benefit if the strike goes wrong
The traditional conservative People’s Party and the far-right Vox party oppose any government intervention in the housing market other than encouraging the construction of new housing.
They also both say the unions are trying to help Sánchez stay in power, with months of polls showing voters leaning to the right.
“This strike is not a general strike, it is an electoral strike,” Popular Party spokesperson Miguel Tellado said on Tuesday.
If the strike escalates into violence, right-wing parties, which have already joined forces to govern some Spanish regions, could benefit, Bartomeus said.
Spain, like other European countries, often holds peaceful public protests which radical groups take advantage of to clash with police and destroy property.
“The People’s Party and Vox both want the strike to be a failure and to end with scenes of dumpster fires and broken windows,” Bartomeus said, so that the next morning, “they can say: ‘It’s chaos and we’re coming to restore order’.”
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