Arabic version: إضراب عام في إسبانيا يجذب عشرات الآلاف

According to BBC News, clashes broke out in Barcelona after tens of thousands joined Spain’s first general strike in 14 years, called by the country’s main unions over housing and the high cost of living. More than 50,000 people turned out in Barcelona, while 120,000 joined a demonstration in Madrid.

Footage from Barcelona showed masked men setting fire to rubbish bins and smashing shop windows as police fired tear gas. The interior ministry said dozens of people were arrested for a variety of incidents. Spanish reports also said estate agencies had faced attacks on their offices. Transport and other public services were seriously disrupted, while traffic was halted on several roads and highways in Madrid and Catalonia.

UGT labour union head Pepe Álvarez described participation as “massive”, and Unai Sordo of the CC OO union said turnout was “very significant”. Electricity use fell by 7.5% in the early hours of the strike, according to Red Eléctrica. During Spain’s last general strike, in 2012, equivalent consumption fell by more than 15%.

The strike followed protests over affordable housing and rising living costs, intensified by the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from a Madrid flat where she had lived for seven decades. She died in hospital weeks later. Idealista put the average October monthly rent for a 50 sq m apartment in Madrid at €1,170, compared with an average gross monthly salary in Spain of about €2,460.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called snap elections last month after parliament failed to approve his housing reform plan. Spain is due to hold parliamentary elections on 29 November. The conservative People’s Party accused the government of using the strike for electoral gain, while Sánchez defended workers’ right to strike.