Cost of Living Sparks General Strike in Spain

“BARCELONA -- Demonstrators took to the streets of cities across Spain to join the country's first general strike in 14 years, calling for measures to tackle the rising cost of living weeks before voters head to the polls.

 

Video footage from public broadcaster RTVE showed protesters blockading roads, setting tires on fire and clashing with police on Wednesday as people marched in city centers to demand that the government take action to improve wages and access to housing. The Ministry of the Interior said more than 35 people were detained.

 

Spain's largest trade unions, CCOO and UGT, said workers from all sectors of the economy were walking out of their jobs, causing disruption to factories, ports and public transportation services.

 

Grupo TMB, which manages the Barcelona metro and bus network, said it had suspended all services from midmorning until the late afternoon.

 

The demonstration marked the first general strike backed by the largest trade unions in Spain since November 2012, when people took to the streets to protest against austerity measures that many European governments were introducing to bring public spending under control in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

 

Wednesday's strike caps weeks of protests that have gained momentum since September's televised eviction of an elderly Madrid resident who couldn't afford rent increases. Maria del Carmen Abascal, 87 years old, died in a hospital about two weeks after she was forcibly evicted.

 

Access to housing and the cost of living have emerged as the driving forces behind protests gripping much of Europe this fall.

 

In France, what began as weeks of student-led protests over conditions in the country's schools morphed into a wider movement that drew people of all ages protesting the rising cost of living.

 

Many of those demonstrations turned violent, with rioters rampaging through cities, and authorities reporting episodes of vandalism, arson, looting and damage to stores.

 

Riots also broke out in Italy, Germany and other European countries.

 

In Spain, the strike comes at a particularly delicate time for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, with voters heading to the polls on Nov. 29. Sanchez, who has been in power for about eight years and has led a left-wing minority government since 2023, in October called for snap elections after measures he proposed to increase protections for tenants were rejected.

 

Putting more pressure on the administration: A collision between two trains last month killed dozens in one of Spain's deadliest rail disasters -- and its second fatal crash this year. This later prompted the resignation of Sanchez's transport minister and sparked calls from the opposition led by People's Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo for a major overhaul of Spain's rail infrastructure.

 

Feijoo is hoping to capitalize on his rival's woes, including the mass crossing of tens of thousands of migrants who streamed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from neighboring Morocco this summer.

 

Sanchez, meanwhile, is betting that he can turn a housing crisis -- and anger at the opposition for blocking legislation to ease it -- into stronger support for his socialist party.” [1]

 

1. World News: Cost of Living Sparks General Strike in Spain. Orru, Mauro; Figueras, Andrea.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 12 Nov 2026: A11.