Spain's first general strike in 14 years demands solutions to housing crisis
BARCELONA, Spain —
asserted
strike → demand → crisis
Less than three weeks before a national election that could catapult the far right to power, millions of Spain's workers are striking on Wednesday to demand that the government remedy the nation's housing crisis.
uncertain
government → catapult → crisis
The general strike — Spain's first in 14 years — is causing delays in the public transport system and slowing down factories across the eurozone's fourth-largest economy.
asserted
strike → cause → economy
Many schools and universities reportedly closed or are working at minimal capacity.
uncertain
schools → close → capacity
In the capital, Madrid, this adds to an ongoing strike started by teachers nearly a month ago to demand better working conditions.
asserted
this → add → conditions
In Barcelona, the country's second-largest city, public transport was at a standstill or facing long delays in the morning rush hour.
asserted
transport → face → hour
In Madrid, which saw heavy rains in the morning, city buses were the hardest affected.
asserted
buses → see → morning
Unions have called for Madrid workers to gather and march through the city center later Wednesday.
asserted
workers → call → center
Marches and gatherings are also planned in Barcelona and other cities.
asserted
Marches → plan → Barcelona
The two main unions calling for the strike, UGT and CCOO, said in a statement that there was widespread participation, "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.
asserted
unions → call → sector
"It's extremely important to remind people that we, the workers — who are also renters or who also pay mortgages — are the ones with the power to halt production and bring the economy to a standstill," Sandra Mora, spokesperson for the Tenants' Union, told the national radio, RNE.
asserted
Mora → remind → radio
Minor incidents were reported in the first hours of the strike, including roadblocks — some with burning tires — in Barcelona, and scuffles between picketers and police near the country's main wholesale market on Madrid's outskirts.
asserted
incidents → report → outskirts
Earlier, at the stroke of midnight on Wednesday, striking workers set off fireworks as they gathered in public squares in Barcelona.
asserted
they → strike → Barcelona
Workers and activists want more government action on housing
Wednesday's walkout has brought together workers, activists, politicians and ordinary Spaniards around the same interests — accessible housing.
asserted
walkout → want → interests
The average rent in Spain has almost doubled in the last 10 years, eating into household budgets and angering voters.
asserted
rent → double → voters
"There is one issue that is dividing the country: the struggle to access housing," said Unai Sordo, secretary general of CCOO, on Cadena Ser radio.
asserted
Sordo → be → radio
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.
asserted
anger → reach → Madrid
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 in rent and can't even dream of homeownership.
asserted
they → know → homeownership
Housing activists leveraged the uproar over Maricarmen's eviction to call for the general strike.
asserted
activists → leverage → strike
They soon won the backing of the UGT and CCOO unions.
asserted
They → win → unions
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.
asserted
activists → want → leases
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.
asserted
unions → demand → association
Spain's left hopes to put focus back on housing
asserted
left → put → housing
The nationwide protests over the eviction of Maricarmen propelled Spain's 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.
asserted
they → propel → market
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez 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.
But then came a brutal high-speed train collision — Spain's second deadly rail disaster of the year.
asserted
collision → respond → year
That collision, which killed 69 people, has dominated Spanish news and created a drag on Sánchez's campaign just when he had hoped to build momentum.
asserted
he → kill → momentum
The strike — with its official slogan "Salaries. Housing. Prices." — is an opportunity for Sánchez's Socialists and the other parties on the Left that he will need to remain in power
asserted
he → need → power
, analyst Oriol Bartomeus said.
asserted
Bartomeus → say → ?
"The 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," Bartomeus, a professor of political science at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, told The Associated Press.
asserted
Bartomeus → need → Press
On Thursday, the government will again try to have a reduced interim Parliament ratify the two housing decrees that the full lower chamber rejected last month.
asserted
chamber → try → that
Sánchez 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.
"It wasn't easy, but they changed Spain," Sánchez said, while warning that right-wing parties would bring austerity and underfunded social services.
asserted
parties → post → austerity
Verónica Martínez, spokesperson for Sumar, the junior member of the government, separately said "the Left needs the workers of this country to mobilize.
asserted
workers → say → country
Rights are first won on the streets and then later in the institution."
asserted
Rights → win → institution
The right could benefit if the strike turns ugly
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.
uncertain
Party → benefit → homes
They also both argue that the unions are trying to help Sánchez stay in office, with months of polling showing voters leaning toward the Right.
asserted
voters → argue → Right
"This strike is not a general strike; it is an electoral strike," Popular Party spokesperson Miguel Tellado said Tuesday.
asserted
Tellado → say → ?
If the strike descends into violence, right-wing parties, which already have joined forces to govern in some Spanish regions, could benefit, Bartomeus said.
uncertain
Bartomeus → descend → regions
Spain, like other European countries, often has peaceful public protests that radical groups take advantage of to clash with police and destroy property.
asserted
groups → have → property
"The Popular Party and Vox both want the strike to be a flop and to end in scenes of burning dumpsters and shattered shop windows," said Bartomeus, so that the next morning, "they can say, 'This is chaos and we are coming to establish order.'"
asserted
we → want → order
The Aporia
