Millions stopped work and crowds marched in Barcelona and Madrid over housing costs, weeks before a national election.
Millions of workers in Spain stopped work on Wednesday, 11 November, closing businesses and halting public transport, before large crowds marched in Barcelona, Madrid and other cities against soaring rents and property prices, according to an Associated Press report carried by Courthouse News Service.
The walkout, under the slogan "Salaries. Housing. Prices.", was the country's first general strike in 14 years and the first to grow mainly out of anger over housing. Average rents in Spain have nearly doubled in a decade, squeezing household budgets.
Housing activists said 400,000 people marched in Barcelona; the city government put the figure at 55,000. Most shops on the city's main shopping boulevard were boarded up in advance. After the peaceful march some protesters smashed store fronts and riot police were sent to the area. In Madrid, police pushed demonstrators off the Gran Via, and a large evening march went ahead in heavy rain.
Activists want tighter rules to protect tenants and curb property speculation. The strike also matters politically: Spain's left-wing government is trying to mobilise voters ahead of a national election later this month in which polls show it trailing.
