Protesters storm Cafè d'Idees set at RTVE Catalonia during Spain general strike

Protesters occupy the Barcelona set

On Wednesday, 11 November 2026, a group of around fifty hooded protesters entered the RTVE Catalonia studios on Roc Boronat street in Barcelona and occupied the set of Cafè d'Idees, a current affairs programme presented by Gemma Nierga. The group arrived about fifteen minutes before the 8:00 start, when the live programme was due to begin, and unfurled banners linked to the general strike. The programme had prepared a special edition devoted entirely to covering the walkout, and its staff were the personnel assigned as minimum services by RTVE. The banners carried a slogan that translates as living should not cost people their lives. Nierga, who also reported the incident on X, stressed that her team could not do its job despite the essential status of journalists.

“Journalists are considered an essential service, but today we cannot do our work.”

Police arrive and the programme resumes

Officers from the Mossos d'Esquadra were called to the building, and after they arrived the protesters left the studio. The programme went back on air at 8:48 with no further incidents, although its start had been delayed by the occupation. The broadcast ran until 10:30, a shorter edition than usual, since the show normally finishes at 11:00. The programme was also carried at the same time on La 2Cat and Ràdio 4, so the interruption affected both formats.

Catalan government on minimum services

The Catalan government said minimum services for the general strike were being met widely and that no serious incidents had been recorded so far. Pol Gibert, secretary general for Business and Labour (Empresa y Trabajo) of the Generalitat, gave that assessment at a press appearance in the Palau de la Generalitat, taking stock of the first hours of the strike in Catalonia. The minimum services at RTVE were set by the broadcaster itself, and the Cafè d'Idees team was among the staff assigned to them. The government's account of the regional walkout therefore sits alongside the broadcaster's own report of the studio occupation, which the government did not describe in detail.

Wider disruption across Spain

The general strike was called by unions to protest the housing situation and to demand decent wages, and it began with work stoppages, minimum services and numerous incidents in several parts of the country. Traffic cuts in Madrid and Barcelona complicated mobility from early morning, and pickets appeared at the Volkswagen factory in Navarra and at the Mercabarna and Mercamadrid distribution centres. In Andalusia, Canal Sur Televisión went off air at around 8:00 and showed an on-screen apology explaining that the interruption was a consequence of the strike call. Canal Sur had also cut its output hours before an electoral debate on 11 May 2026, when stoppages called by its strike committee affected the public broadcaster. On national television, presenter David Broncano told viewers at the end of Tuesday's programme that La Revuelta would not air on RTVE's La 1 on Wednesday:

“Tomorrow there is no La Revuelta because there is a strike.”

Ada Colau, a guest on that programme and leader of Frente Amplio according to ABC, responded with a message backing the protest.