Overview
- Trade unions CCOO and UGT called a 24-hour nationwide general strike that produced large demonstrations and sector stoppages across major cities and industries.
- Organizers and local officials offered sharply different turnout numbers in Barcelona and Madrid, with activist groups claiming far higher crowds than Catalan authorities and Madrid officials reporting about 120,000 participants.
- Violent clashes broke out in Barcelona late in the day when masked rioters attacked shops, hurled Molotov cocktails, and set fire to an Apple store on Passeig de Gràcia, leading to multiple arrests.
- Unions reported high stoppage rates in key sectors such as ports, automotive, waste collection and energy while the main business group CEOE disputed those claims and called participation minimal.
- The protests were driven by a long rise in rents and a widely shared eviction case that drew public outrage, and they follow failed emergency housing reforms and the prime minister's decision to call a snap election, raising the prospect of further political and policy upheaval.