Spain stops for a day over rent, and the average flat now costs a young worker almost a whole month’s pay

Spain’s two biggest unions, CCOO and UGT, brought much of the country to a halt on Wednesday, 11 November, in its first general strike since 2012, under a three-word slogan: wages, housing, prices.

The unions said four million workers took part. They claimed 90 per cent participation in car manufacturing and ports, 85 per cent in meat processing and 75 per cent in energy. CCOO leader Unai Sordo said turnout had exceeded expectations.

The hard numbers point to a real stoppage. Grid operator Red Eléctrica said electricity demand fell by up to 15.5 per cent in mid-morning. Madrid metro use at peak hour was down 42 per cent on the week before. Airport operator AENA said about 5 per cent of flights were cancelled. In Barcelona, metro trains and buses stopped outside rush hour, and on Madrid’s Gran Vía chain stores including Primark and H&M stayed shut.

Who says it failed?

Employers’ groups said the strike fell flat, though they accepted it was stronger in heavy industry and transport than in shops and restaurants. The Madrid regional government, run by the conservative Popular Party, said only 9 per cent of its public servants joined and called the day a complete failure. One bank economist estimated the stoppage could shave 0.1 to 0.2 per cent off Spain’s annual economic output.

Was there violence?

Mostly marches, with flashpoints. Tens of thousands marched in Madrid and Barcelona, and gatherings were held in many other cities. Protesters blocked roads and set tyres alight at some Barcelona barricades, and masked protesters interrupted a live broadcast on a state broadcaster in the city. Police reported dozens of arrests, with figures released at different times ranging from 29 nationally to 40 by midday. Unions said police used force against picket lines and that about 20 protesters were hurt, and said they would file a criminal complaint.

Why is housing this explosive?

Because the numbers have stopped adding up for a generation. Average rent has nearly doubled in ten years to about €1,176 a month, or roughly A$1,900. The Youth Council of Spain says that is roughly 98.7 per cent of a young person’s average monthly salary: rent alone would swallow almost an entire pay packet before food or transport. The Bank of Spain estimates the country is about 750,000 homes short, a gap it expects to pass one million by 2028.

The anger found a face this autumn in Maria del Carmen Abascal, an 87-year-old evicted from the home she had lived in for 70 years after her rent rose fivefold. Her death afterwards made her a symbol of the protests that grew into Wednesday’s strike.

For Australians, the shape is familiar: rents outrunning wages, too few homes and housing turning into the issue that decides elections. Spain shows what happens when it boils over into the streets.

What does it mean for the election?

Mr Sánchez goes into the 29 November election with parliament having rejected his government’s decrees on evictions and rent pressures last month, corruption cases touching his inner circle, and the aftermath of a high-speed train disaster that killed 69 people. Polls have his Socialists trailing the combined right.

The Popular Party’s Miguel Tellado called it “an electoral strike”, aimed not at the current government but at the next one. The PP and the far-right Vox oppose housing intervention beyond incentives to build. Tenant groups want automatic lease renewals, an end to tourist apartments and a crackdown on speculation; the unions want more state intervention in housing and a new minimum wage deal.

“We won’t stop until we transform this country’s housing model,” said Alicia del Río of the Madrid Tenants’ Union.