Spain's 11 November housing strike splits parties and employers before 29 November vote

Strike framed as a housing protest and a campaign issue

The general strike called for Wednesday, 11 November, by the Sindicato de Inquilinas, CCOO, UGT and other organisations targets housing costs and public services, and it has quickly become an election issue ahead of the general election on 29 November. Antonio Garamendi, president of the employers' confederation CEOE, said members of the government had urged the walkout, and that two ministers had encouraged it at the Moncloa the day before. He described the strike as official, atypical and preventive, and said it was the first of its kind in Spain's 50 years of democracy.

Garamendi also asked whom the strike was directed against, and argued that a government which encourages people to take to the streets when the polls do not favour it is not very democratic.

“The ballot boxes are the ones that decide, and if I don't like the ballot boxes I go out to the street.”

Participation and essential services

Sources at the Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear told Europa Press that its minimum services were being met normally, with essential functions guaranteed at all times, and that the right to strike was being fully respected. Cecot, which represents firms mainly in Terrassa and the Vallès area near Barcelona, put its estimated participation at 7.5% in a survey of its members, with industry making up 45.6% of the firms that responded. Garamendi said the stoppage was most visible in factories, where unions have a stronger presence, while self-employed workers reported practically no incidents. He said small shops were open as normal and that no incidents had been recorded in 8,000 Spanish towns, citing Madrid's Gran Via as fully open. He warned that informational pickets could cause harm if they forced shops to close.

Vox links the strike to the election

Vox spokespeople in several regions took the same line. Manuela Cañadas, the party's spokesperson in the Balearic Parliament in Palma, called the strike a campaign tool and accused unions of singling out workers who did not join it. Isabel Pérez Moñino, Vox's spokesperson in the Madrid Assembly, spoke in Alcalá de Guadaíra in Seville and framed the walkout as a final favour from the unions to Pedro Sánchez before the vote.

“It is the last political service these union parasites want to give Pedro Sánchez.”

Moñino accused the unions of staying silent for eight years while grocery prices rose, wages lost purchasing power and housing costs climbed. She also condemned violence, threats and coercion by pickets against workers who wanted to reach their jobs. In Barcelona, Vox's Congress candidate Juanjo Aizcorbe accused CCOO and UGT of promoting a political strike, called it a fraud against workers who lose a day's pay, and cited more than 500 million euros in aid to the unions between 2018 and 2025 while demanding an end to their public funding.

Junts and employers look for a target

Jordi Turull, secretary general of Junts, said his party respects the right to strike and understands public discontent, but does not see a clear addressee for the call. He warned that some could use the strike electorally and that its timing and form could work against the protesters themselves. Turull blamed what he called erratic policies for the impoverishment of middle and working classes. Garamendi, for his part, said he would ask for responsibilities if the situation gets out of hand.