Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards called a nationwide strike for the first time in 14 years, demanding solutions to the housing crisis before violent clashes broke out in Barcelona, where property was set on fire and dozens were arrested.
On Wednesday, 11 Nov 2026 GMT+7, violent clashes occurred in Barcelona between masked groups and police after tens of thousands of Spaniards rallied and held a nationwide strike for the first time in 14 years to protest rising living costs and housing prices.
Spain’s main labor unions called for the general strike, resulting in about 120,000 protesters in Madrid and over 50,000 in Barcelona, along with other major cities, despite rain in Madrid.
The protests severely disrupted public transport and services across Spain. Major roads in Madrid and Barcelona were blocked, bringing traffic to a standstill, while industrial electricity consumption dropped by 7.5% in the morning.
During the day in Barcelona, the protests were peaceful, with participants including children and elderly people marching to demand fair rents and lower living costs.
However, in the evening in central Barcelona, masked agitators set trash bins on fire, threw flares at police, smashed shop windows, looted a Lego store, and attempted to break into an Apple Store. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd and arrested several dozen rioters, while several real estate offices were also targeted.
The recent protests were triggered by the housing rent crisis, where apartment rents consume a disproportionate share of wages—for example, a 50-square-meter apartment in Madrid averages 1,170 euros per month, nearly half of the average Spanish income.
A key breaking point was the death of 87-year-old Mari Carmen Abascal, who was evicted after the new landlord tripled her rent on the apartment she had lived in for 70 years in Madrid; she died in hospital a few weeks later.
This strike took place ahead of the parliamentary election on 29 Nov, after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of the Socialist Party dissolved parliament following the failure of a housing reform bill.
Sánchez’s government supports the strike to demand affordable housing, while the opposition conservative Popular Party (PP) and the business association CEOE criticize it as a politically motivated strike aimed at electoral gain.
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Source:BBC