Feijóo asks Spanish unions to cancel 11 November general strike after Urda crash

A call to drop the strike

Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the Partido Popular (PP) and its candidate for prime minister, asked the unions to reconsider the general strike they have called for 11 November. Speaking at a breakfast organised by Europa Press on Tuesday, 3 November, he said he did not question the constitutional right to strike, only the timing of the call. He had found the strike hard to justify before the crash, and said the railway accident at Urda in Toledo province, which El Periódico reports has left at least 69 dead, turned it into a serious mistake.

“It was incomprehensible before. After 69 deaths, it is a serious mistake.”

Feijóo directed the appeal at UGT and CCOO, the two main unions, and cited a PSOE campaign director, a woman, as having confirmed that the strike is aimed at the opposition. He noted that the unions had not called a general strike during the eight years of Pedro Sánchez's government, and urged them not to do so three weeks before voters go to the polls. He warned that they would tie their image to Sánchez if they went ahead.

“Do not hold it, or they will tie their image to Pedro Sánchez forever.”

The unions respond

Pepe Álvarez, general secretary of UGT, called Feijóo's argument insulting in an interview on SER radio's Hoy por Hoy programme. He said Feijóo had offered no substantive reason to call off the strike, which he described as aimed mainly at housing and wages. Álvarez accepted that the accident was one more reason to act, but argued that it did not connect to the strike's demands. He added that Spain needs more investment in public services such as health care, education and, most clearly, the rail system.

“There is no relationship between what Mr Feijóo says, housing and wages.”

What the strike is about

PSOE figures, including María Jesús Montero, have argued that general strikes are called against governments, and that this one targets the opposition after it struck down a government housing decree. The main demands of the call include indefinite rental contracts, sharp cuts in rents and home prices, an end to evictions, a wealth tax to fund a public housing stock, and an end to speculative buying. CCOO and UGT have widened the protest to labour demands, including pay rises, shorter working hours, better worker health, an end to precarious jobs, price controls and the unblocking of collective bargaining.

How the calendar unfolded

According to a column in El Confidencial, Sánchez announced the dissolution of parliament and early general elections in an institutional statement on 5 October, and the unions announced the general strike the same day. Sánchez justified the early vote by a parliamentary blockage, while the unions said the strike sought urgent solutions to the housing crisis, wage increases and labour rights. The column notes that the legislature has run its full term without a General State Budget for the first time in democratic history, and argues that neither stated reason held up. The official campaign opens on 13 November, two days after the strike, and voters go to the polls on 29 November.

Rail safety and the PP's response

Miguel Tellado told TVE that a safety system had failed at Urda, which he said was not the first such failure, and that no political responsibility had been assumed. He argued that the situation reflects poor management and corruption, and cited the conviction of former transport minister José Luis Ábalos for corruption and related cases. Feijóo, for his part, said a PP government would carry out an extensive audit of the whole rail system, with conservation and maintenance as its priorities. The sources do not establish a cause for the crash beyond these competing claims.