Thousands demand a general strike for housing in Barcelona

The demonstration called by tenant unions and the PAH exceeds expectations and ends with clashes with the Mossos and some arrests. The organisers estimate attendance at 120,000 people.

The Urquinaona square in Barcelona was on Monday the starting point of a demonstration that has surpassed all forecasts. Thousands of people responded to the call for a general strike for housing led by the Sindicat de Llogateres, the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages (PAH), the Confederació Sindical d'Habitatge de Catalunya (COSHAC), and the Sindicat d'Habitatge Socialista, joined by CCOO, UGT, and CGT, as reported by elmundo.es.

The Urban Guard estimated attendance at around 20,000 people, while the organisers raised the figure to 120,000. The difference between both estimates reflects the magnitude of a protest that forced a change in the planned route.

The initial plan was to go down Via Laietana, pass by plaza Sant Jaume in front of the headquarters of the Government of Catalonia and the Barcelona City Hall, and end at plaza Catalunya, where the first activists camped the previous Tuesday night. The influx of people led the organisers to divert the march towards the Arc del Triomf, with wider roads, to continue along Gran Via towards paseo de Gràcia.

Upon reaching that point, there were moments of tension between the Mossos d'Esquadra and some protesters who attempted to break the police cordon to continue advancing towards the camp. After the march was called off, a small group threw objects at the officers and set containers on fire. The Mossos charged and made some arrests.

The spokesperson for the Sindicat de Llogateres, Carme Arcarazo, has set the calendar for protests independent of the electoral call.

"The housing legislature has begun and an electoral calendar will not dictate our pace, we have our own calendar, which is to move towards a general strike in autumn"

Arcarazo also referred to the announcement of early elections made this morning by the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez. The spokesperson considered it "a good idea" for the Permanent Deputation of the Congress of Deputies to vote again on the housing decrees repealed last Friday, but warned that these measures "simply serve to cushion the blow."

"They will stop evictions or freeze rent prices, but they do not structurally change the housing system, they do not address the reasons that have brought us here"

This Monday's events come after an intense week of demands in Barcelona. Last Monday, the city woke up with cuts on several entry roads and ended with a concentration in front of the Palace of Congresses of Catalonia coinciding with Sánchez's presence at the Vanguardia Awards.

On Tuesday, following the example of Puerta del Sol in Madrid and other Spanish capitals, dozens of people began a camp in plaza Catalunya, the same space that hosted the Barcelona protest of 15-M in 2011. The initiative did not have the support of the Sindicat de Llogateres or other housing unions during the first two days, but on Thursday, after the cacerolada in Sant Jaume at 20:00, they joined the camp.

On Friday, the day of the vote in the Lower House for the ratification of the government's housing decrees, several activists concentrated near the Junts headquarters, which had announced its vote against, to follow the parliamentary session from there.

This Monday's demonstration in Barcelona was initially scheduled for Saturday in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, but the organisers postponed it due to recommendations from the Civil Protection Service of the Generalitat, which raised the risk level to maximum due to heavy rains. That concentration was called after the case of Olga, a resident of this locality, the second most populated in Catalonia with nearly 300,000 inhabitants, who committed suicide in early September, just months after being evicted from the apartment she lived in.