> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://redflag.org.au/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The “two souls” of the Spanish general strike - URL: https://redflag.org.au/article/the-two-souls-of-the-spanish-general-strike/ - Published: 2026-11-10T06:37:24.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-10T06:47:36.000Z - Author: Jordan Humphreys - Tags: Unions and Workers, Britain and Europe *A 24-hour general strike is set to take place across the Spanish state on 11 November, sparked by recent struggles over housing. In the lead-up to the general strike,* Red Flag*’s *Jordan Humphreys* spoke to Germán* *P. Montañés* *, a member of the revolutionary organisation Anticapitalistas, about the unfolding situation.* ***Red Flag*:** Rising rents and house prices are affecting people across the globe. Why has it become such a flashpoint in the Spanish state in particular? What is the housing situation like there? **Germán** **P. Montañés:** Housing in the Spanish state has been a structural problem for a long time. One of the most visible impacts of the 2008 financial crisis was a wave of mortgage evictions. Today, mortgage-related evictions are less common, but renting has become much more widespread. Even so, renting remains less common in Spain than in cities like Berlin or New York, where tenant voting blocs have played a major political role. In Spain, home ownership is the norm even among much of the working class. This stems from a strategy popularised during the dictatorship—echoing Margaret Thatcher’s later policies in the UK—summarised by a government minister’s famous quote: “I want a country of homeowners, not proletarians”. This high level of home ownership has somewhat cushioned the crisis; without it, the social situation likely would have collapsed much sooner. Still, the crisis remains severe for two main groups: young people, who are locked out of home ownership and forced to pay exorbitant rents; and low-income workers and migrants, who face the worst housing instability. The modern housing movement began around 2008 with anti-eviction campaigns such as the Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH). Later, tenants’ unions emerged from these struggles—founded in 2017 in hubs like Madrid and Barcelona, and expanding across the Spanish state over the past few years. A major tipping point occurred in late September, when police evicted 87-year-old María del Carmen (Maricarmen) Abascal from her home in Madrid. She had lived there for nearly 50 years under a rent-controlled agreement, but after an investment fund bought the building, her rent drastically increased. On the fourth attempt, police successfully removed her. This high-profile eviction sparked widespread outrage across the country. In response to the growing public backlash, the prime minister brought the general elections forward to 29 November. ***RF*:** Could you give us a better idea about the tenants’ unions—what kind of organisations are they, and what relationship do they have with the revolutionary left? **GPM:** The emergence of tenant unions reflects the limits of the previous housing movement, which focused almost exclusively on stopping evictions. The problem with focusing on evictions is that the movement arrives far too late: by the time a family is facing removal, the police are already at the door. The founding principle of the tenants’ unions was to adapt the most effective elements of trade unions to housing—arriving early to conflicts and organising people sooner. Rather than a diffuse social movement, housing activism needed a formal union. Members pay a monthly contribution, providing a financial base that allows staff to work full time and maintains an ongoing presence. They also drew heavily on US labour tactics, focusing on entire buildings or properties owned by the same investment fund or landlord family to intervene long before eviction day. They’ve been very successful recently in Madrid. Around September, they had about 2,000 to 3,000 members, and over the last two months of conflict, that number doubled to roughly 6,000\. To clarify: these are financial members, not dedicated militants—there are perhaps 100 to 150 core militants—but the growth is significant. The mainstream political left has no militant presence inside these spaces and does not control them; it tries to exert influence from the outside through government institutions and political pressure. The revolutionary left isn’t broadly present either, though our organisation is the only one with a real foothold inside the unions. Our influence extends beyond raw numbers: we’ve maintained a dialogue with the union leadership for ten years. While the leaders come from autonomist or anarchist traditions, key militants in leadership positions allow us to maintain a solid presence. Our goal is to build a revolutionary current inside the tenants’ unions to counter progressive institutional pressure and steer them toward radical goals. ***RF*:** One of the most striking aspects of the housing protests has been the encampments, particularly in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol. What role did these camps play in the struggle? **GPM:** Encampments are a very common tactic in Spain—from university encampments for Palestine to the current housing actions. The recent encampment was crucial because it sustained momentum and provided a long-term vision. A single demonstration after Maricarmen’s eviction would have fizzled out. Of course, encampments bring challenges—you know when to start one, but never when to end it, and coordinating unorganised individuals can be tricky. But it sustained the movement. This encampment differed significantly from the 2011 *Indignados* occupation in Puerta del Sol, which was driven by an anti-political sentiment—the belief that being explicitly left-leaning or bringing party banners would alienate the public. In contrast, this new encampment was structured and managed by militant organisations—primarily the tenants’ unions, alongside our organisation and others from the revolutionary left. Not only were political organisations present, but there was a collective consensus that we *should* be there. Today, growing the movement relies on maintaining clear, radical demands rather than moderating them (though as anti-capitalists, we don't always agree with the tenants’ union’s direction or negotiations with the government). ***RF*:** Why do you think that shift away from 2011’s “anti-politics” occurred? **Germán:** A few factors contributed. First, political organisations like ours have consistently shown up in strikes, social movements, and local struggles, earning respect through active participation over time. Second, the tenants’ unions led the encampment with a framework that respects political organisations and shares space with them. Finally, public perception is different because we aren't a parliamentary party—if we held seats in parliament, people might have viewed our presence very differently. ***RF*:** It seems like people were raising the need for a general strike early on? **GPM:** Tenants’ unions have been demanding a housing general strike from the major trade unions for two or three years because rising buying and rental prices demand it—prices that have only increased under eight years of progressive governments. The major trade unions traditionally focus on social peace, class collaboration, and tripartite negotiations with the government and employer associations. They were never going to call a general strike against a progressive government—they refused to do so for eight years. So why agree to it now? The push toward this general strike essentially has two “souls”: The first is radical, stemming from widespread disappointment with the progressive government’s housing policies and the strategic leadership of the tenants’ unions. The second soul belongs to the two major trade unions, who believe they can leverage this strike in two ways. Firstly, they see an electoral advantage. They want to help the progressive government win the upcoming elections by co-opting the movement’s momentum, claiming housing reforms failed only because parliament is controlled by the right. That argument lands because it’s partially true—parliament is right-leaning now. However, six years ago when the progressive coalition took power with a left-leaning majority, it also failed to act. The Socialist Party is an institutional party, and real estate capital—developers, mortgage lenders, and banks—is a pillar of Spanish capitalism that the Socialist Party will not touch. Secondly, the major unions recognise that a right-wing or far-right coalition is the most likely outcome of the November elections. Expecting attacks on organised labour, they are using the strike to reposition themselves as defenders of working-class rights and rebuild public trust. Given these competing motivations, it remains uncertain how committed the major unions are to executing the strike. One of the two major federations has historical ties to the communist movement, and its militants are actively organising on the ground, while the other may have called the strike on paper without intending to mobilise. As anti-capitalists, we believe this strike has real potential. Less than 20 percent of the working class in Spain is unionised, so we may not shut down every factory. But we can disrupt normal commercial life across the country. Political events can serve reformists and revolutionaries simultaneously. A battle for leadership is taking place inside the strike movement between reformist and revolutionary tendencies, and we intend to win it. While the strike’s core demands are too radical for the progressive government to adopt, strengthening our organisations and the tenants’ unions through this strike represents a win regardless of the election outcome. Finally, a crucial aspect of this strike is that it has been called jointly by all trade unions across the Spanish state. While the two major unions—CCOO (Workers’ Commissions) and UGT (General Union of Workers)—dominate regions like Madrid, Andalusia, and Castile, independent nationalist unions lead in Catalonia, Galicia, and the Basque Country. Usually, nationalist unions schedule strikes on separate dates. In this case, every single union has called for the strike on the exact same day, which is remarkably rare.