Spain Holds First General Strike in 14 Years Over Housing Costs; Clashes Follow in Cities

Workers across Spain staged the country's first general strike in 14 years on Wednesday, November 11, protesting high rents, living costs and stagnant wages, and clashes with police followed in Madrid and Barcelona. Authorities estimated about 120,000 marchers in Madrid and more than 50,000 in Barcelona, where housing activists claimed 400,000 and city officials said 55,000. The walkout disrupted public transport, closed some businesses and blocked major roads. After largely peaceful marches, masked protesters smashed storefronts, lit fires and threw fireworks at police, who used tear gas, rubber bullet launchers and pepper spray. Police arrested 18 people in Barcelona, and 39 strike-related arrests were reported nationwide before the late clashes. The protests come weeks before an early general election in which the right-wing opposition is expected to defeat the Socialist prime minister.

The New York Times, on the left, leads with workers in many industries walking off the job over rents and stagnant wages, which it calls central campaign issues. Its excerpt mentions no clashes, arrests or crowd counts. Fox News and the Daily Mail, on the right, lead with disorder. Fox's headline speaks of fiery chaos and the Mail's of looting and burning bins, and both detail Barcelona storefront damage, fireworks, armored vans and pepper spray. Fox sets the 400,000 and 55,000 Barcelona counts side by side. The Mail adds the slogan 'Salaries. Housing. Prices.', the 39 arrests and the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal. Both sides agree on the 14-year gap and the housing-cost cause. They differ on whether the main story is the economic and electoral stakes or the street violence. BBC and The Hindu largely track the same facts.