Spain is heading toward a nationwide general strike over the severe housing crisis gripping the country, with organizers and labor unions scheduling the mass walkout for November 11. This high-stakes industrial action marks the first general stoppage backed by the nation’s major class-based labor unions in 14 years.
The decision was finalized after leaders of the primary labor unions reached an agreement with representatives from organizations spearheading real estate market protests, according to information obtained by EL PAÍS. Additional backing for the work stoppage has come from prominent regional unions, including CIG in Galicia alongside ELA and LAB in the Basque Country. Meanwhile, the Tenants’ Union (Sindicato de Inquilinas) indicated that its formal decision regarding the mobilization would be communicated during the afternoon.
Timing and Political Friction Surrounding the Walkout
The general strike is scheduled for a Wednesday, landing roughly two and a half weeks prior to the upcoming general elections and just a day before the official campaign kickoff at midnight between Thursday and Friday. This delicate electoral timing has drawn sharp criticism from corporate unions and major employers’ associations, specifically CEOE and Cepyme. Business leaders argue that the grievances fueling the mobilization are fundamentally non-labor in nature, calling it unacceptable to shift the economic costs of political pressure directed at the government’s housing management onto companies, employees, and general economic activity. The PP and Vox have similarly launched fierce attacks against the union leadership over the timing.
Addressing the impending unrest on Tuesday, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stated: “There is going to be a general strike on an issue that I believe affects many working men and women and their families, such as access to housing. And therefore, from the Government the only thing we can do is respect that constitutional right.”
Historical Precedent of Spanish General Strikes
The upcoming mobilization represents a rare deployment of union muscle, echoing decades of labor history in Spain. The last general strike supported by the country’s majority labor organizations took place on November 14, 2012, when workers walked out to protest austerity cuts stemming from the Great Recession—a movement that extended across several European nations including Italy, Portugal, Cyprus, and Malta. Earlier that same year in March, labor confederations CC OO and UGT organized another general strike to oppose a labor reform enacted by Mariano Rajoy’s administration that reduced severance pay.
Spain’s modern era of major class union general strikes began on December 14, 1988, under Felipe González. Subsequent nationwide stoppages occurred on May 28, 1992, January 27, 1994, June 20, 2002 under José María Aznar, and September 29, 2010, in response to spending cuts implemented by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s government. When workers walk off the job next month, it will mark the ninth general strike backed by CC OO and UGT.
Negotiations and organizational preparations continue across the country as regional groups and labor confederations finalize their mobilization strategies ahead of the November 11 date.
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