The average rental price of €1,176 ($1,315) in Spain is equivalent to about 98.7% of a young person’s average monthly salary, according to the Youth Council of Spain.
Millions of Spanish workers went on a general strike on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, marking the country’s first nationwide stoppage in 14 years. Commuters, travellers and families across Spain faced thinned-out trains, reduced metro services and postponed hospital appointments as workers walked off the job in a protest spanning transport, schools, healthcare and other public services. Called under the slogan “Wages, housing and prices,” the 24-hour walkout was jointly backed by Spain’s two largest trade unions, Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT).
The unions themselves admitted the call was unorthodox, noting it was not a response to a specific piece of legislation or to any single government body. The industrial action unfolded less than three weeks before a snap general election scheduled for November 29, 2026, which was prompted by a deepening political crisis over housing affordability and social unrest.
Her subsequent death caused even more outrage and established her as an icon for Spaniards burdened by high rental costs and unable to contemplate ever owning a home. Housing activists seized the public anger over her eviction to organize the general strike, and tenant unions had even threatened to proceed with the strike without CCOO and UGT if the major unions refused to join.
On Monday, October 5, hours after Pedro Sánchez called the election, UGT and CCOO announced their support for the strike, elevating its scale. “There is one issue that is dividing the country: the struggle to access housing,” said Unai Sordo, secretary general of CCOO, speaking on Cadena Ser radio.
Alicia del Rio, spokesperson for the Madrid Tenants’ Union, said that they would not stop until the country’s housing model is transformed from top to bottom so that homes are for living instead of serving a landlord minority.
Transport and Manufacturing Sectors Face Service Minimums and Stoppages
Minimum service levels were established for transport, schools, and healthcare, varying by region. The Ministry of Transport established minimum service levels, ordering Renfe to operate 75 percent of Cercanías commuter trains during peak hours and 73 percent of high-speed AVE and long-distance services.
According to UGT and CCOO statements reported by NPR, early participation included work stoppages in strategic sectors. Reuters noted total stoppages at major manufacturing sites including Volkswagen’s plant in Navarre and SEAT’s facility in Barcelona.
“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,” the unions said. Tensions also flared at the start of the strike at Madrid’s Mercamadrid wholesale market.
Snap Election Follows Strike and Legislative Battles over Housing
The strike unfolded against a complex political backdrop. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the snap election for October 5 following legislative battles over housing decrees, hoping to earn four more years in power for his left-wing coalition, though his Socialist Party has trailed in opinion polls.
“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,” said Oriol Bartomeus, a professor of political science at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, in remarks reported by NPR.
Bartomeus added that conservative opposition figures hoped the walkout would flounder: “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,” so that “they can say, ‘This is chaos and we are coming to establish order.’”
Business representatives pushed back against the stoppage. Angela de Miguel, vice president of Spain’s main business lobby CEOE, argued that the action was counterproductive because small businesses were also suffering from housing shortages that complicate recruitment. Meanwhile, Popular Party spokesperson Miguel Tellado dismissed the timing, stating on Tuesday that “this strike is not a general strike; it is an electoral strike”.
Both opposition parties rejected the strike as politically motivated, accusing unions of aiming at the opposition ahead of the election in a contest that could bring a far-right party into Spain’s national government for the first time since the end of Francisco Franco’s 1939–1975 dictatorship.
Earlier coverage: More than 240 social movements across the Basque Country and Navarre have backed a general strike
