Millions join Spain’s first general strike in 14 years in protest at housing crisis
Twenty-four-hour stoppage draws high participation weeks before election in which far right could gain power
Millions of people across Spain have joined the country’s first general strike in 14 years, setting up picket lines to protest against soaring housing prices before an election in which the far right could be catapulted into power.
At the centre of Wednesday’s nationwide 24-hour stoppage, singularly called for by tenants’ associations and later backed by workers’ unions, is a pushback against Spain’s deepening housing crisis.
The long-simmering frustration at soaring housing prices across Spain burst into public view in September after the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from the home in which she had lived for more than seven decades.