Millions join Spain housing strike, 115 arrested

MADRID: More than three million Spaniards took to the streets on Wednesday as part of a mostly peaceful general strike protesting against a growing housing crisis, unions said, though 115 people were arrested, mainly during evening clashes in Barcelona and Madrid.
Workers endured stormy weather to set up picket lines, with large marches in Madrid, Barcelona and other cities across Spain less than three weeks before a snap general election.
In the evening, clashes between police and some protesters erupted in Barcelona. Furniture was set alight in the street after the main march ended, video showed. Tensions also rose in Madrid, when riot police used foam bullets, tear gas and pepper spray to disperse protesters around the central Plaza de España, a witness said. Police forces reported at least 115 arrests nationwide from incidents linked to the general strike, including blockades of offices and industrial estates.
Sumar, the Socialist government's junior coalition partner, called on Thursday for Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska to resign over what it described as an 'excessive and disproportionate' response by police. Amnesty International said it had documented excessive use of police force including blows with batons on peaceful protesters and indiscriminate use of pepper spray on crowds. Grande-Marlaska on Thursday ordered investigations into the incidents, the Interior Ministry said.
It was the first general strike since workers downed tools in 2012 against austerity measures during the euro zone debt crisis. The Tenants Union said more than three million people, including unionised workers as well as students, pensioners, tenants, the self-employed and jobless, took part in demonstrations to protest against rising rents and evictions.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez hopes to harness voter resentment over housing in the November 29 election to shift the attention away from a deadly migration rush into Ceuta and a train crash last month. His government has defended its handling of the disasters but so far, his Socialist Party still trails in opinion polls.
Spain has a deficit of about 750,000 homes, which is set to grow to more than a million by 2028, according to the central bank. 'I'm 36 years old and I still can't move out on my own,' said Madrid resident Jesus Gonzalez, who works in a hospital IT department and supports the strike. 'Rents just keep going up, house prices just keep going up, and it's simply impossible.'
The strike follows weeks of demonstrations provoked by the eviction and subsequent death of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid. Those protests, along with parliament's rejection last month of government decrees aimed at curbing evictions and limiting rent pressures, prompted Sanchez to call the snap election. — Reuters