Spain's first general strike in 14 years brings clashing social and political desires to the fore

Millions of Spain’s workers are striking Wednesday to demand that the government remedy the nation’s housing crisis less than three weeks before a national election that could catapult the far right to power.

Spain’s first general strike in 14 years is expected to cause delays to the widely used public transport system and lead to the slowdown or shuttering of businesses, factories and shops across the eurozone’s fourth largest economy.

Minor incidents were reported in the first hours, including roadblocks — some of them with burning tires — in Barcelona, the second-largest city in the country, and scuffles between picketers and police near the country’s main wholesale market on the outskirts of the capital, Madrid. Striking workers set off fireworks on the stroke of midnight as they gathered in public squares in Barcelona.

The two main unions calling for the strike, UGT and CCOO, reported widespread participation in the early hours “with significant work stoppages in strategic sectors” — 90% in the automotive and port sectors, 85% in the meat industry, 82% in waste collection, and 75% in the energy sector — according to a statement posted on social media.

Between workers, activists, politicians and ordinary Spaniards, the groups have very different interests in Wednesday's walkout.

Workers and activists want more government action on housing

The average rent in Spain has almost doubled in the last 10 years, eating into household budgets and angering voters.

Public anger over housing reached a boiling point following the nationally televised eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her home in Madrid last month. The subsequent death of Maricarmen, as the woman became known, caused even more indignation and solidified her as a symbol of Spaniards who feel they pay too much on rent and can’t even dream of homeownership.

Housing activists leveraged the uproar over Maricarmen's eviction to call for the general strike. They soon won the backing of Spain's two main unions, UGT and CCOO.

The housing activists want several measures, including the elimination of tourist apartments, a crackdown on real estate speculation and protection for renters in the form of automatic renewals of leases.

The UGT and CCOO unions are demanding more government intervention in the housing market and a new minimum wage agreement through talks with the business owners' association.

The strike’s official slogan is “Salaries. Housing. Prices.”

Spain's left hopes to put focus back on housing

The nationwide protests over the eviction of Maricarmen propelled Spain’s government to push through emergency measures to limit evictions and help tenants, but right-wing parties in the Parliament refused to ratify them on the grounds they would provoke a flight of properties from the rental market.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez responded by doubling down politically and called the election on Oct. 5, hoping to earn four more years in power for his left-wing coalition.

But then came a brutal high-speed train collision — Spain's second deadly rail disaster of the year. That collision, which killed 69 people, has dominated Spanish news and created a drag on Sánchez's campaign just when he had hoped to build momentum.

The strike, says analyst Oriol Bartomeus, is an opportunity for Sánchez's Socialists and the other parties on the Left that he will need to remain in power.

“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, back in the framework of Maricarmen,” Bartomeus, a professor of political science at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, told The Associated Press.

On Thursday, the government will again try to have a reduced interim Parliament ratify the two housing decrees that the full lower chamber rejected last month.

Sánchez posted a long video on social media this week, in which he lauded the prior social policies like the 40-hour work week and national health insurance that were the fruit of the workers' movement and the right to strike.

“It wasn’t easy, but they changed Spain,” Sánchez said, while warning that right-wing parties would bring austerity and underfunded social services.

Verónica Martínez, spokesperson for Sumar, the junior member of the government, separately said “the Left needs the workers of this country to mobilize. Rights are first won on the streets and then later in the institution.”

The right could yet benefit from the strike if it turns ugly

The traditional conservative Popular Party and the far-right Vox are against any government intervention in the housing market other than incentivizing construction of new homes.

They also both argue that the unions are playing politics and trying to help Sánchez stay in office, with months of polling showing voters leaning toward the Right.

“This strike is not a general strike; it is an electoral strike,” Popular Party spokesperson Miguel Tellado said Tuesday. “It is not against the government in power, but rather against the government to be.”

But the right-wing parties, which already have joined forces to govern in some Spanish regions, could benefit from the strike if it descends into street violence, according to Bartomeus.

Strikes can result in hardcore union members pressuring shops and offices into closing. Spain, like other European countries, often has peaceful public protests that radical groups take advantage of to clash with police and destroy property.

“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,” Bartomeus said. “That way the next morning they can say, ‘This is chaos and we are coming to establish order.’”

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Associated Press writer Teresa Medrano contributed to this report.