If your salary is already disappearing into rent, mortgage payments, bills and food before the month is over, the latest announcement from Spain’s two biggest unions is likely to get your attention. UGT and CCOO have agreed to call a 24-hour general strike this autumn, arguing that wages are no longer enough to give people access to decent housing. 

The exact date has not yet been announced, so there is no need to change your plans just yet. However, the proposed stoppage could affect working days, public transport, schools and other services across Spain when it goes ahead, with the unions now working with the Sindicato de Inquilinas (tenants union) and other social organisations on the timing and mobilisation.

Why are UGT and CCOO calling a general strike?

The unions are linking two problems that increasingly collide in everyday life: what people earn and what they have to pay for somewhere to live. UGT and CCOO say wages are not keeping pace with the cost of housing and inflation, leaving workers unable to afford suitable accommodation despite being in employment. Their demand is therefore not simply for lower rents. They want salaries that allow people to pay for a home without being pushed into financial difficulty. 

The decision follows the rejection in Congress of housing measures backed by the unions last Friday. It also comes after major demonstrations over Spain’s housing crisis, with protesters demanding action on rents, the supply of affordable homes and protection for people struggling to remain in their homes.  For the unions, the workplace is part of that argument. CCOO leader Unai Sordo has said housing costs are closely linked to wages and collective bargaining, arguing that workers cannot negotiate better living conditions if their earnings remain squeezed. 

What will the strike actually mean for you?

If you are employed in Spain, the first thing to know is that you will not automatically be required to strike. Taking part in a lawful strike is a worker’s right, while employees who choose to work are also protected from being forced to join it. However, striking means your employment contract is suspended for the duration of the stoppage and you do not receive your normal salary for that period.  That means anyone considering joining the 24-hour stoppage will need to weigh the lost day’s pay against supporting the unions’ demands.

The impact could be much more noticeable outside individual workplaces. A general strike can affect transport, schools, public services, deliveries, shops and other businesses depending on how many workers participate and which sectors are affected. Public services will not simply shut down. Where services are considered essential, minimum services can be imposed so that certain activity continues during a strike. The precise arrangements for this particular stoppage will only become clear once the date and official minimum-service requirements are established. 

What should you be prepared for?

At this stage, don’t start rearranging your life around a strike date, because there isn’t one yet. Once the date is announced, workers should check with their employer about how their workplace will operate and whether any particular arrangements apply. If you rely on trains, buses, metro services or flights, check the operator’s information before travelling rather than assuming your normal service will run.

Parents should also watch for information from schools and local authorities, particularly if they normally rely on public transport for the school run. Anyone with an appointment, journey or other time-sensitive commitment should allow extra time and check for cancellations or reduced services closer to the day.

The same applies to businesses. A company does not necessarily have to close because a general strike has been called, but staffing levels can affect opening hours and the services it can provide. The unions have not yet completed the final procedural step either. The agreement announced on October 5 still has to be ratified by the highest governing bodies of UGT and CCOO. 

When will Spain’s general strike happen?

UGT and CCOO say the date will be agreed alongside the Sindicato de Inquilinas and other social organisations. UGT general secretary Pepe Álvarez has also said the strike will not be held during the election campaign. Spain is due to hold a snap election on November 29, adding another significant deadline to the autumn calendar. 

The planned stoppage would be the first general strike backed by both UGT and CCOO since 2012, making it a significant national mobilisation rather than an isolated dispute involving one industry or group of employees.  For millions of people already struggling to make a salary stretch far enough to cover a roof over their heads, the argument behind the strike is about something considerably more basic than a day’s disruption: whether having a job in Spain is enough to afford somewhere to live.

The weekend storm in Catalonia was already a serious travel story. Monday’s rain did something else. It opened the road.

Two sinkholes appeared in Granollers, in the Vallès Oriental, after ground soaked since Saturday took another 107 litres per square metre in a morning, about 50 of them in half an hour. The town’s running total is now about 350 litres.

The larger hole is on Carrer Josep Umbert i Ventura, in front of the courts. Firefighters put it at about five metres across and six deep. Offices opposite, including the courthouse, were evacuated. No one was hurt, the buildings were cleared, and staff were allowed back. The hole is still cordoned off, and crews warned it could grow. A second collapse opened on Carrer Equador, in the Font Verda neighbourhood. The ring road flooded, Rodalies stopped, water reached hospital stores, and schools stayed shut. Protecció Civil sent an ES-Alert and, for a time, told the county to stay indoors.

Sinkhole season: Beware post-rains roads

Holes like these are a regular Spanish autumn event, and they are not usually the limestone caves people picture. The word in Spanish is socavón, and most of the ones that open after a cloudburst are washouts. Rain finds a crack in the asphalt, or overwhelms a gully, and runs into the layers under the road. Once that sub-base is saturated it loses its strength, and the carriageway drops into the void. Spain is well set up for it.

Long dry spells bake and crack the surface. A Mediterranean downpour can then dump a month of rain in an hour, onto drains that were never built for that. Blocked culverts and ground already full from a previous storm do the rest. There is a slower kind too. Large parts of the east and south sit on limestone, and water widens fractures for years before a doline appears with little warning. The Granollers holes look like the first kind: a road that had simply taken all the water it could.

Autumn storms in Spain

Monday was a second burst, not a repeat of Saturday’s airport closures. It still added to the toll. A second person was found dead in a flooded garage in Montornès del Vallès, after the death at a Tordera campsite already reported. Crews are still searching for a person swept away on Sunday in the stream at Pineda de Mar. The day brought at least 1,650 calls to 112 and about 46 rescues, including a woman and a three-year-old pulled from a car in Coma-ruga. On Sunday the Besòs touched about 900 cubic metres a second at Santa Coloma.

Extremadura had its own red-alert afternoon on Sunday, separate from the Catalan coast. Tierra de Barros, La Serena and the south of Badajoz were the focus. The regional flood plan was switched on, an ES-Alert went to 90 municipalities, Barcarrota recorded 79 litres, and roads were cut around Salvatierra de los Barros. The damage has not matched events further east.

New alerts signal danger

Tuesday is still the wet day flagged on Sunday, but the warnings have shifted. Orange alerts now cover Huesca and Lleida. Extremadura, Toledo and Salamanca are on yellow, with the heaviest falls still expected there, across western Castilla-La Mancha, the Sistema Central and the Pyrenees. Hail is possible. Yellow warnings also cover much of Andalucia, Galicia, Madrid and the Barcelona coast. Stay out of streams and underpasses, and do not drive through standing water.

Fuengirola’s spectacular Rosario fair opens tomorrow night and runs until Monday, October 12. Stroll, laugh, dance and sing along. Residents who want more than a poster of names will find a procession, horses at the Real, Casetas that say they are open to everyone, and a Line 1 bus home until 4am.

Anyone who only knows the spring international fair should treat this as a different week. This one honours the Virgen del Rosario Coronada, the town’s patron. An earlier EWN preview had the dates. The official programme now confirms the times.

What you can walk into

Tuesday, October 6, starts at 9.30pm with the pregon (opening announcement) by local dancer Juani Guerrero at the Palacio de la Paz, at the fairground at Avenida de Nuestro Padre Jesus Cautivo. Entry is free, and there are chairs. Once she finishes, the council switches on the fair lights on the main facade, and the town band plays the national anthem.

Wednesday, October 7 is the day to be in the centre, not only at the fairground. A flamenco mass starts at 10am in Plaza de la Constitucion, then the Virgin goes out with bands from Fuengirola and Almogia. The route runs Condes de San Isidro, Marconi, Palangreros, Calle Larga and Calle Espana, back to the church, with a hoped-for finish around 2.30pm. Riders join near Palangreros at about 12.45pm. Women are invited to wear a mantilla, a flamenco dress or local dress. That night, 10pm, is the 48th Jabegote Juan de la Loma flamenco festival, with Israel Fernandez, Paqui Corpas, Jose Garcia “Jose El Petro” and guitarist Diego del Morao.

Local peñas groups run the casetas and bars, and the new president of the federation, Manuel Espinosa Barroso, has asked every one of them to keep the doors open for everyone. Music, food, a drink and a toast are the point of a wander round the real and celebrate life in Fuengirola.

Horses and carriages, one of the highlights for many at the fair, have their own rules for the fairground this week. They were already out for Fuengirola a Caballo in September, so give them the road.

Afternoons have a quieter option in the Caseta de la Tercera Edad. Paco y Llina, “Duo Cenachero”, Araceli Gonzalez, dance schools and Orquesta Punto y Aparte fill slots from 5pm across the week, with a presentation of regional dance workshops on Sunday at 5pm.

Who is on after dark

Friday, October 9, is one of Spain’s biggest stars, David Bustamante at 10pm. Saturday, October 10, is Antonio Jose’s same time. Monday, October 12, Spain’s national day, has Sondesoto in Plaza de la Constitucion at 12.30pm, then the massively popular, Marta Sanchez, at the Palacio de la Paz at 10pm. Seats are €10, boxes €15. Sunday, October 11 is free: Los 40 Session, with DJ Nano and San Bernardino, at 10pm, until the hall is full.

Tickets can be got from entradas.fuengirola.es and the Miramar information desk, weekdays from 10am to 12.30pm and 3pm to 6pm. Leftovers, if any, are sold at the box office two hours before the show, card only.

Line 1 bus runs a special service from October 6 to 12 until 4am, linking Miramar, Carvajal and the fairground. Departures from Miramar include 11.30pm, 12.10am, 12.50am, 1.30am, 2.10am, 2.50am, 3.30am and 4.10am. Full times are on transportefuengirola.com (952 737 444). Ordinary buses are a separate story.

Thursday, October 8, is the family add-on if you are taking children. Cantajuegos is on at 6pm, at €5 for a seat and €10 for a box, and children’s rides are half price. Most of the week belongs to the casetas, the procession and the 10pm shows.