Spain holds first general strike in fourteen years over housing crisis

On Wednesday 11 November, a general strike was held across Spain in protest against the country’s housing affordability crisis. Pickets gathered in the streets, with workers from ports, car plants and the meat-processing industry among the most represented. The strike came less than three weeks before the snap election called by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for 29 November, and followed weeks of protests sparked by the eviction and subsequent death of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid. The strike was backed by tenants’ associations and Spain’s two largest trade unions, the General Union of Workers (UGT) and the Workers’ Commissions (CCOO), which represent more than one million workers.

It was the first general strike in Spain since workers protested austerity measures during the eurozone debt crisis in 2012. Despite two heavy storms, which forced unions to call off a demonstration in the south of the country, the strike disrupted businesses, industrial activity and transport across Spain, including flights and trains.

The strike highlights the growing importance of the housing crisis, which is expected to be a central issue in the upcoming snap election.

References:

[Cover Image] Barcex. (2026, September 26). Demonstrators raise their arms and hold up placards during a march for the right to housing in Madrid, Spain [Photograph]. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madrid_-_Demonstration_for_the_right_to_housing_-_Not_one_more_Maricarmen_-_260926_201651.jpg

Jopson, B. (2026, November 11). Spain roiled by first general strike in 14 years. Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/d93d41fc-943c-449b-948c-57a4464f564f

Latona, D. (2026, November 11). Workers across Spain stage first general strike in 14 years as anger rages over housing. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/workers-across-spain-stage-first-general-strike-14-years-anger-over-housing-2026-11-11