Madrid (AFP) – Police fired tear gas as sporadic clashes broke out in Madrid and Barcelona on Wednesday after huge protests across Spain over housing affordability and purchasing power just weeks before an early general election. Hundreds of thousands of protesters turned out during Spain’s first nationwide 24-hour strike since 2012, with authorities estimating around 120,000 demonstrators marched through the capital and more than 50,000 rallied in Barcelona.
Clashes broke out after the protests in Spain’s two largest cities, as groups of hooded and masked demonstrators hurled projectiles at police and sparked fires, according to AFP journalists. Video footage showed large rubbish skips as well as bicycles and pot plants engulfed in flames on roads in Barcelona, with heavy contingents of police vans racing through the streets. Police used rubber bullet launchers and tear gas to disperse small groups of protesters and arrested 18 people in Barcelona.
The size of the demonstrations has been seen as an indicator of public discontent before a snap election set for this month, in which the right-wing opposition is expected to defeat Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Braving pouring rain, protesters in Madrid carried placards shaped like houses and chanted “we have no home” as they called for more affordable housing. “People work a lot and it isn’t enough to pay the rent, to pay for a house,” Paula Diaz, a 25-year-old theatre technician who lives with her parents, told AFP at the Madrid protest. “I hope a government that benefits us comes to power, especially the working class,” she added, referring to the November 29 election.
In Barcelona, where authorities estimated 55,000 people marched through the city’s luxury Passeig de Gracia commercial thoroughfare, Maria Pinana told AFP “the law of supply and demand does not apply to housing.” “The price of rents should be regulated,” said the 34-year-old microbiologist, who lives with friends in a flat where parts of the ceiling have collapsed. Tens of thousands more attended rallies held in other cities across Spain, the latest in a wave of protests sparked by the eviction of an 87-year-old Madrid pensioner in September.
In Madrid, where many shops opened as normal, demonstrators earlier on Wednesday blocked some roads, a picket action that was replicated across the country. Public transport suffered disruptions even with the implementation of minimum service requirements for commuter trains, metros, and buses in and around Barcelona. In contrast, Madrid’s metro said 93 percent of its trains ran in the early morning, although passenger numbers were down by around half. UGT union leader Pepe Alvarez told public broadcaster RTVE that the participation was “massive,” with a “total” stoppage in some regions making the strike “a huge success.” But his union acknowledged participation was “uneven,” with large mobilization in the car manufacturing, petrochemicals, and meat sectors and in coastal regions.
The CEOE organization, which represents business leaders, called the strike “a failure,” adding in a statement that activity had gone ahead normally in most sectors. Electricity demand had fallen by around five percent, “significantly lower” than in previous strikes, the CEOE said.
The main UGT and CCOO unions called the strike following a wave of nationwide protests over access to housing. Valeria Racu, spokeswoman for the Madrid Tenants’ Union which has been at the forefront of protests for weeks, vowed to “put an end to the housing business in this country.” “A new cycle is beginning with trade unionism and conflict at its center. This day of strikes has been a resounding success,” she said.
Sanchez called this month’s election, initially scheduled for 2027, after his minority government failed to secure parliamentary approval for a package of housing measures proposed in response to the demonstrations. Business groups and the right have rejected the strike, seeing it as an election-related gambit rather than a genuine labor dispute. But unions have defended the walkout as an exceptional measure intended to generate broad social pressure for action on soaring housing costs.
Isabel Iglesias, a nurse who lives in Madrid, said housing was the issue “that is affecting me the most.” She pays 1,000 euros ($1,100) in rent with her partner but earns just 1,700 euros a month. Iglesias, 27, said Sanchez, who has been in power since 2018, “could have done much more” on housing, urging the next government “to listen to everyone and get their act together.”
© 2024 AFP
