Spanish unions call general strike over housing before 29 November election

Spain's two largest trade unions, the Workers' General Union (UGT) and Workers' Commissions (CCOO), announced a nationwide general strike — a stoppage by workers across many industries — over housing for 11 November, Al Jazeera reported. The unions said the date still needs to be formally approved by other unions at a meeting later on Wednesday. Al Jazeera reported it would be the first general strike jointly backed by Spain's two largest unions in 14 years.

Maricarmen Abascal, who became a symbol of Spain's housing protests, has died, Euronews reported. Euronews reported she lived in Madrid's Retiro district and had been admitted to hospital after failing to halt a fourth attempt to evict her. According to Euronews, she had forced the property fund that expelled her from her home to back down and allow her to return, following an agreement with the authorities.

Al Jazeera reported that Abascal was 87 and known across Spain as Maricarmen, and that an international investment fund bought her building and raised her rent by more than 200 percent to roughly $1,880 a month. Al Jazeera reported the fund aimed to push out the long-term tenant to make way for tourist apartments. Following the eviction, the Madrid Tenants Union organised protests and encampments in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol square, drawing tens of thousands of demonstrators before spreading to dozens of other cities, according to Al Jazeera.

Spain has a shortage of about 750,000 homes, which the Bank of Spain says will grow to more than a million by 2028, according to Al Jazeera. The average rental price of 1,176 euros ($1,315) is equivalent to about 98.7 percent of a young person's average monthly salary in Spain, Youth Council of Spain figures cited by Al Jazeera show. Madrid Tenants' Union spokesperson Valeria Racu said: "We cannot ignore the fact that housing is where most of our wages go. What is the point of raising the minimum wage if housing costs are rising three, four or five times faster?"

Al Jazeera reported that the government's failure last week to pass emergency measures on the crisis prompted Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to call an early election for 29 November. Euronews reported that the demonstrations ultimately brought forward a general election. Sanchez's main rival, conservative Popular Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, is seeking a chance at forming a government, while far-right Vox leader Santiago Abascal is positioning his party as a potential kingmaker, Al Jazeera reported.

Al Jazeera reported that Sanchez, 54, has been in power since 2018 and goes into the election with opinion polls consistently putting him behind Feijoo. Polls suggest Feijoo will not win an outright majority, meaning he will need support from Vox to govern, according to Al Jazeera.