{"id":62552,"date":"2026-11-11T08:47:40","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T08:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/11\/spains-first-general-strike-in-14-years-brings-clashing-social-and-political-desires-to-the-fore\/"},"modified":"2026-11-11T08:47:40","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T08:47:40","slug":"spains-first-general-strike-in-14-years-brings-clashing-social-and-political-desires-to-the-fore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/11\/spains-first-general-strike-in-14-years-brings-clashing-social-and-political-desires-to-the-fore\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain\u2019s first general strike in 14 years brings clashing social and political desires to the fore"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Millions of Spain\u2019s workers are striking on Wednesday (November 11, 2026) to demand that the government remedy the nation\u2019s housing crisis less than three weeks before a national election that could catapult the far right to power.<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s first general strike in 14 years is expected to cause delays to the widely used public transport system and lead to the slowdown or shuttering of businesses, factories and shops across the eurozone\u2019s fourth largest economy.<\/p>\n

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Minor incidents were reported in the first hours, including roadblocks \u2014 some of them with burning tyres \u2014 in Barcelona, the second-largest city in the country, and scuffles between picketers and police near the country\u2019s main wholesale market on the outskirts of the capital, Madrid. Striking workers set off fireworks on the stroke of midnight as they gathered in public squares in Barcelona.<\/p>\n

The two main unions calling for the strike, UGT and CCOO, reported widespread participation in the early hours \u201cwith significant work stoppages in strategic sectors\u201d \u2014 90% in the automotive and port sectors, 85% in the meat industry, 82% in waste collection, and 75% in the energy sector \u2014 according to a statement posted on social media.<\/p>\n

Between workers, activists, politicians and ordinary Spaniards, the groups have very different interests in Wednesday’s (November 11) walkout.<\/p>\n

The average rent in Spain has almost doubled in the last 10 years, eating into household budgets and angering voters.<\/p>\n

Public anger over housing reached a boiling point following the nationally televised eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her home in Madrid last month. The subsequent death of Maricarmen, as the woman became known, caused even more indignation and solidified her as a symbol of Spaniards who feel they pay too much on rent and can\u2019t even dream of homeownership.<\/p>\n

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Housing activists leveraged the uproar over Maricarmen’s eviction to call for the general strike. They soon won the backing of Spain’s two main unions, UGT and CCOO.<\/p>\n

The housing activists want several measures, including the elimination of tourist apartments, a crackdown on real estate speculation and protection for renters in the form of automatic renewals of leases.<\/p>\n

The UGT and CCOO unions are demanding more government intervention in the housing market and a new minimum wage agreement through talks with the business owners’ association.<\/p>\n

The strike\u2019s official slogan is \u201cSalaries. Housing. Prices.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nationwide protests over the eviction of Maricarmen propelled Spain\u2019s government to push through emergency measures to limit evictions and help tenants, but right-wing parties in the Parliament refused to ratify them on the grounds they would provoke a flight of properties from the rental market.<\/p>\n

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez responded by doubling down politically and called the election on Oct. 5, hoping to earn four more years in power for his left-wing coalition.<\/p>\n

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But then came a brutal high-speed train collision<\/a> \u2014 Spain’s second deadly rail disaster of the year. That collision, which killed 69 people, has dominated Spanish news and created a drag on S\u00e1nchez’s campaign just when he had hoped to build momentum.<\/p>\n

The strike, says analyst Oriol Bartomeus, is an opportunity for S\u00e1nchez’s Socialists and the other parties on the Left that he will need to remain in power.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Socialists need for the strike to be a success and for there not to be any violence so that the election campaign can swing back to being about housing, back in the framework of Maricarmen,\u201d Mr. Bartomeus, a professor of political science at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, told The Associated Press<\/i>.<\/p>\n

On Thursday (November 12), the government will again try to have a reduced interim Parliament ratify the two housing decrees that the full lower chamber rejected last month.<\/p>\n

Mr. S\u00e1nchez posted a long video on social media this week, in which he lauded the prior social policies like the 40-hour work week and national health insurance that were the fruit of the workers’ movement and the right to strike.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt wasn\u2019t easy, but they changed Spain,\u201d Mr. S\u00e1nchez said, while warning that right-wing parties would bring austerity and underfunded social services.<\/p>\n

Ver\u00f3nica Mart\u00ednez, spokesperson for Sumar, the junior member of the government, separately said \u201cthe Left needs the workers of this country to mobilize. Rights are first won on the streets and then later in the institution.\u201d<\/p>\n

The traditional conservative Popular Party and the far-right Vox are against any government intervention in the housing market other than incentivizing construction of new homes.<\/p>\n

They also both argue that the unions are playing politics and trying to help Mr. S\u00e1nchez stay in office, with months of polling showing voters leaning toward the Right.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis strike is not a general strike; it is an electoral strike,\u201d Popular Party spokesperson Miguel Tellado said on Tuesday (November 10). \u201cIt is not against the government in power, but rather against the government to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the right-wing parties, which have already joined forces to govern in some Spanish regions, could benefit from the strike if it descends into street violence, according to Mr. Bartomeus.<\/p>\n

Strikes can result in hardcore union members pressuring shops and offices into closing. Spain, like other European countries, often has peaceful public protests that radical groups take advantage of to clash with police and destroy property.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Popular Party and Vox both want the strike to be a flop and to end in scenes of burning dumpsters and shattered shop windows,\u201d Mr. Bartomeus said. \u201cThat way the next morning they can say, \u2018This is chaos and we are coming to establish order.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Published – November 11, 2026 01:53 pm IST<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Millions of Spain\u2019s workers are striking on Wednesday (November 11, 2026) to demand that the government remedy the nation\u2019s housing crisis less than three weeks before a national election that could catapult the far right to power. Spain\u2019s first general strike in 14 years is expected to cause delays to the widely used public transport […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}