Spain's first general strike in 14 years: millions walk out over housing crisis weeks before a snap election

Spain's first general strike in 14 years: millions walk out over housing crisis weeks before a snap election.

Millions of workers across Spain walked off the job Wednesday in the country's first general strike in 14 years, demanding government action on a housing crisis that has become the defining issue of a Nov. 29 national election, according to AFP and AP reporting carried by Al Jazeera and NPR.

The 24-hour strike began at midnight, disrupting public transport and forcing factories, businesses and shops to scale back or close. The two main unions behind it, UGT and CCOO, reported "significant work stoppages in strategic sectors," including 90% participation in the automotive and port sectors. Reuters footage showed protesters trying to stop buses leaving a Madrid municipal depot, and scuffles broke out between picketers and police near the capital's main wholesale market. Burning tires blocked roads in Barcelona.

Average rents in Spain have nearly doubled in a decade. Renting a 50-square-meter apartment in Madrid averaged 1,170 euros a month in October, according to the property portal Idealista, nearly half the average gross monthly salary of about 2,460 euros. The protest wave was sparked by the September eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old Madrid woman who died days later.

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the snap election after his minority government failed to pass a housing package. "This is not a strike against anyone," he told La Vanguardia, calling it a push for a common response from every level of government.

Business groups dismissed the walkout as an election stunt, and both the conservative Popular Party and far-right Vox criticized it. PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, whose party leads the polls, called it a "serious mistake" coming weeks after a high-speed train collision that killed 69 people.

The strike gives voters a stark picture of the stakes as Spain decides whether to keep a left-leaning government or hand power to the right.