This Monday, November 11, Barcelona will experience a 24-hour general strike organized by various neighborhood and labor groups to demand affordable rent and higher wages. Based on the premise that earning a salary is no longer a guarantee of access to decent housing, the protest aims to highlight the difficulties citizens face in making ends meet and to call for urgent measures to halt the loss of purchasing power.
The main demonstration, organized by the Ens Costa la Vida platform, the Sindicat de Llogateres, and the Taula Sindical de Catalunya, also has the backing of the major unions CCOO and UGT. As the nerve center of the preparations, the organizing groups have had their operations center and information desk set up since mid-October in the iconic Historic Building of the University of Barcelona.
Schedule and starting point of the main demonstration
The joint march through downtown Barcelona is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. The meeting point for the start of the demonstration will be the Jardinets de Gràcia.
The strike’s demands
Under the slogan of refusing to accept “neither rock-bottom wages nor sky-high housing costs,” the rally’s manifesto calls for improvements to public services, such as healthcare and education, and outlines nine specific demands to protect workers’ rights and housing:
- Rent reductions: Reform the reference indices so that prices are in line with wages.
- End Evictions: Prohibit the eviction of vulnerable people without alternative housing and establish open-ended rental contracts.
- Limits on speculation: Expropriate homes owned by banks and vulture funds, and ban purchases made for speculative purposes.
- Public Housing: Build a fully public housing stock that is accessible without minimum income requirements.
- Residential union rights: Recognize collective bargaining tools in the housing sector, paving the way for a “rent strike.”
- Income Increase: Set both the minimum wage and minimum pensions at 1,600 euros.
- Improved working conditions: Reduce the workweek to 35 hours to promote health, combat unemployment, and facilitate work-life balance.
- Restoring purchasing power: Increase wages that have fallen behind inflation.
- Defending Public Services: Protecting all basic services for citizens.
Alternative rally in Verdaguer
For those looking to join the protest from a different perspective, there is a second rally. The Sindicat d’Habitatge Socialista de Catalunya and Solidaritat Obrera have organized an alternative demonstration that will begin at 5:00 p.m. from Plaça de Jacint Verdaguer. These groups have decided to distance themselves from the main march so as not to cede the spotlight to the leaders of CCOO and UGT, whom they describe as “branches of the Spanish government.”
