Millions voice their fury in Spanish general strike – as the right gains ground in polls

Detailed summary

The day of mass rallies in every major Spanish city called for action on salaries, housing and prices ahead of the country’s general election on November 29.

Madrid: Spanish workers have voiced their fury at rising prices and soaring rents in a general strike that brought thousands of people onto the streets to demand better wages and government services.

The union action shut down or scaled back services across the country during a day of mass rallies in every major city, leading to sporadic confrontations between protesters and police.

Workers jammed the main thoroughfare of Madrid to march through the central shopping district with banners calling for action on salaries, housing and prices – the three issues likely to decide a general election on November 29.

Consumer prices and rents have outpaced wages across Spain for the past decade, while house values have surged due a shortage of new properties, putting home ownership increasingly out of reach for young people.

“We have to fight because we need lower prices,” said Rebeca Castaño, a teacher at an infants’ school who marched with her colleagues in Madrid.

Castaño told this masthead that some of the children in her school lived in homes where their families had to cram four or five people into a single bedroom because housing costs were so high.

“The government needs to limit prices. They have to spend more on social housing.

“And they have to make a law to stop the tourist flats because in the city centre all of the flats are being used for tourists.”

Anger over housing costs has turned the Spanish people strongly against the use of Airbnb and similar services, with a recent survey finding that 79.2 per cent of voters believe vacation rentals a contributing “a lot or quite a bit” to higher rents.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Sydney Morning Herald. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.