The eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen on September 23rd has spiralled into a full-blown crisis for Spain’s government, whose leader Pedro Sánchez called a snap election on Monday, set for November 29th.
Sánchez’s announcement came days after right-wing parties voted down two key decrees in parliament which included measures such a moratorium on evictions, a ban on vulture funds, automatic rental contract extensions and restrictions on temporary and room rentals.
What followed on Saturday after Friday’s vote were even bigger protests in which hundreds of thousands of Spaniards (500,000 in Madrid alone) took to the streets in anger at the parliamentary result.
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But it wasn’t a snap election that they were calling for, rather a general strike that could bring the country to a standstill.
From Bilbao to Badajoz and Oviedo to Ourense, one of the recurring slogans was “¡Huelga general ya!” (General strike now!).
Organisers from the Tenants’ Union (Sindicato de Inquilinas) have declared these demonstrations as the launch pad for an upcoming “general strike against rent-seeking and in defence of the right to housing”.
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“A general strike is the only way to ensure that there will be a response to what the people are asking for, whoever governs,” spokesperson Alicia del Río said on Monday when asked about the snap election.
“Come with us and build a general strike that will be historic in this country ,” she declared.
When asked about the chosen dates for the general strike, the Tenants’ Union acknowledged that they are still in talks with the national unions.
“We will announce the dates in the coming days, but it will be in November,” they added.
This means that the nationwide stoppage could end up taking place in the days leading up to the snap election in late November.
The last general strike in Spain was in 2012 when a 24-hour stoppage was called against the austerity policies and labour reforms of the PP government of Mariano Rajoy.
However, whether a full general strike will actually materialise this time depends on a few critical factors.
According to Tenants’ Union spokespeople, a general strike cannot be executed by tenant groups alone; it requires a consensus among the country’s major labour unions for it to be legal and effective.
Spain’s two largest union federations UGT and CCOO have so far responded cautiously.
UGT General Secretary Pepe Álvarez noted that while a strike is easy to register, carrying it out is highly complicated, signalling that union leadership is currently looking to hold internal debates rather than immediately shutting down the economy.
Antonio Garamendi, head of Spain’s Confederation of Business Organisations, warned on Monday that the planned general strike could be deemed illegal as it’s linked to housing and not labour matters.
While protesters camped out in Madrid and other Spanish cities are actively demanding a shutdown, a coordinated nationwide general strike remains in the negotiation phase.