Key takeaways: Spain held its first general strike in 14 years on November 11, as hundreds of thousands marched in Madrid, Barcelona and other cities over soaring rents and house prices. The strike, called by the main unions after months of housing protests, puts the cost of a home at the centre of a snap election on November 29.
Millions of Spanish workers stopped work on Wednesday and hundreds of thousands took to the streets in the country’s first nationwide general strike in 14 years, a protest over housing costs that has become the defining issue of a snap election less than three weeks away.
The walkout, held under the slogan “Salaries. Housing. Prices.”, shut down businesses and public transport across the country. It was called by Spain’s two main unions, CCOO and UGT, after a wave of grassroots protests over access to housing that began with the eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her Madrid home.
It was the first general strike in Spain since 2012, and the first centred on housing rather than on wages or pensions.
A day of marches, and some clashes
The strike ended with large evening marches in the two biggest cities. Government officials estimated that 120,000 people marched in Madrid, despite steady rain. In Barcelona, the city government put the turnout at 55,000, while housing activists said 400,000 people had filled the streets, marching behind a huge banner that read “Live. Not Just Survive.”
Almudena Lopez, 74, marched in Madrid with her husband, thinking of their children. Her 43-year-old son, who works in IT, still cannot afford a home of his own and rents a small room in a shared apartment. She told the Associated Press that when she was young, a university degree and a bit of saving were enough to buy a home, and that it is nothing like that today.
Most of the marches were peaceful, but the day ended with clashes in both cities. In Barcelona, after the main march dispersed, masked groups smashed the storefronts of brand-name shops on the Paseo de Gracia, a main shopping boulevard, shattering the entrance of an Apple store, setting small bonfires and burning dumpsters, and firing fireworks at police, who responded with tear gas. Police also used pepper spray against protesters in Madrid.
Police said they had made 49 arrests across Spain for incidents linked to the strike.
The disruption was felt well beyond the marches. Barcelona’s metro and bus networks stopped running outside rush hours, Spain’s airport operator AENA said around 5 percent of Wednesday’s flights were cancelled, and many schools and universities stayed shut.
Unions and business owners disagreed sharply on how far the stoppage went. CCOO and UGT reported stoppages of 90 percent in the automotive and port sectors, 85 percent in the meat industry, 82 percent in waste collection and 75 percent in energy. The leading business owners group, CEOE, said overall participation reached only 5 percent and called the strike a “failure”. Both sides agreed that participation was higher in heavy industry and transport than in retail and restaurants.
The eviction that lit the fuse
The protest movement gathered force over months, and the eviction on September 23 of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from her Madrid flat became its rallying point. She had lived in the same flat in the Retiro district since 1956, 71 years, under an old rent-controlled lease signed before 1985. Police carried her out on a stretcher on the fourth attempt to evict her.
She was taken to hospital, where she died on October 7. Days earlier, negotiators had reached an agreement that would have let her return home on a new eight-year tenancy with her rent capped, but it came too late. Her case came to stand for the many Spaniards who feel home ownership is now out of reach.
Activists seized on the public outcry over her case to demand a strike, and the unions soon backed the call. A protest camp of hundreds of tents grew in Madrid’s central Puerta del Sol square from September 26, under the slogan “Not one more Maricarmen”, with similar camps appearing in other cities.
The movement is led in large part by younger people who have felt the housing squeeze personally. “This strike is against rent seekers, against real estate speculators, against the large companies that get rich by selling properties and, of course, against all the levels of government,” housing activist Valeria Racu told reporters in Madrid. “We are here to show that we have the capacity to mark our own agenda and we are going to keep doing so no matter who governs.”
The activists are seeking the automatic renewal of leases and other measures to protect renters, while the unions are demanding more public housing and a new minimum wage agreement.
Rents have nearly doubled in a decade
The numbers behind the protest explain why it drew such a crowd. Rents across Spain have risen to almost twice their level of ten years ago, squeezing household budgets and angering voters.
Property portal Idealista reported that the national average rent reached 15.1 euros per square metre in October, up 5.6 percent on a year earlier. Madrid remained the most expensive city, at 23.4 euros per square metre, followed by Barcelona at 20.5 euros.
A 50 square metre flat in Madrid cost an average of 1,170 euros a month in October, according to Idealista, while Spain’s average gross monthly salary is about 2,460 euros. For many workers, rent now takes close to half of a pay packet before any other bill is paid.
Supply has tightened at the same time. A rental market barometer published in October found that the number of homes available to rent in Spain will fall by about 7,700 this year, to around 676,000, with an average of 133 people chasing each newly listed property in its first ten days on the market. In Barcelona, the figure was 401 people per listing.
The squeeze is not limited to Spain. Cost-of-living anger has driven protests across Europe this autumn, including Gen Z-led demonstrations in several countries earlier this month.
An election fought over housing
The strike lands in the middle of a short, sharp election campaign. On September 29, Sanchez’s government approved two emergency housing decrees in response to the protests, but Congress rejected both on October 2. Sanchez then dissolved parliament and called a snap general election, set for November 29. The vote had originally been scheduled for 2027.
Polls point to a win for the right-wing opposition, and Sanchez kept a low profile on the day of the strike. Earlier in the week he posted a video on X praising past social policy achievements, such as the 40-hour working week and national health insurance, which he described as the fruit of the workers’ movement, and warned that right-wing parties would underfund social services if they took over.
The conservative Popular Party and the far-right Vox party argued that the unions were trying to help Sanchez, saying the strike handed his camp an advantage at the start of a campaign in which the left is struggling.
Analysts say the strike gives Sanchez’s Socialists a chance to put housing back at the centre of the campaign, but only if it is seen as a success and stays peaceful. “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,” Oriol Bartomeus, a professor of political science at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, told the Associated Press.
Sanchez’s campaign is also carrying the weight of a high-speed train collision near Urda on October 28 that killed 69 people. Transport Minister Oscar Puente resigned on November 3 over the crash, the second deadly rail disaster in Spain this year.
What happens next
The unions have called the strike a success and the housing movement has promised to keep up the pressure whoever wins on November 29. The activists’ demands, automatic lease renewal, more public housing and curbs on speculation, will now be put to every party in the campaign.
For Sanchez, the question is whether the strike revives his campaign or confirms the sense of a government running out of road. For the opposition, the question is whether it can turn public anger over housing into votes without being seen to dismiss the protest itself.
Either way, housing is now the issue that will decide the election, and Wednesday’s strike made sure no voter in Spain can miss it.
Frequently asked questions
Why did Spain hold a general strike on November 11?
Spain’s two main unions, CCOO and UGT, called a 24-hour nationwide strike over soaring rents and house prices, under the slogan “Salaries. Housing. Prices.” It was the first general strike in Spain in 14 years and the first driven mainly by housing unrest, after months of protests sparked by the eviction of an 87-year-old Madrid pensioner.
How many people took part?
Government officials estimated 120,000 people marched in Madrid. In Barcelona, the city government said 55,000 took part, while housing activists said 400,000. Unions reported heavy stoppages in industry and transport, while the business group CEOE said overall participation was only 5 percent. Police made 49 arrests.
How expensive is renting in Spain now?
The average rent has almost doubled in a decade. Property portal Idealista put the national average at 15.1 euros per square metre in October, up 5.6 percent in a year. A 50 square metre flat in Madrid averaged 1,170 euros a month, against an average gross monthly salary of about 2,460 euros.
What does the strike mean for the November 29 election?
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called the snap election after parliament rejected his housing measures. Polls point to a win for the right-wing opposition, and analysts say the left needs the strike to be seen as a success so the campaign focuses on housing. The opposition says the unions are helping Sanchez.
Sources
- Associated Press via EuropeSays, “Housing protests sweep Madrid and Barcelona after Spain’s workers strike, with clashes erupting”, November 11, 2026
- NPR/WHRO (Associated Press), “Spain’s workers hold a general strike over housing costs before national election”, November 11, 2026
- Le Temps (AFP), “Spain’s general strike draws several hundred thousand protesters”, November 11, 2026
- The Citizen (AFP), “Politicians ‘must listen’: General strike over housing hits Spain ahead of election”, November 11, 2026
- Sinar Daily (AFP), “Protesters clash with police in Spain after huge housing cost rallies”, November 12, 2026
- Arab News (Associated Press), “Housing protests fill Barcelona and Madrid as Spain’s workers strike ahead of election”, November 11, 2026
- Idealista October rent report via Democrata, “Rent in Spain soars by 5.6% in October”, November 3, 2026
- Democrata, “Who was Maricarmen, the 87-year-old woman evicted in Madrid”, October 2026
- Shelterforce, “Tenant Union Elder’s Eviction Sparked Mass Protests and a General Strike in Spain”, November 11, 2026
