Alternative protest draws thousands
Thousands of young people took part in an alternative demonstration in Barcelona on Wednesday 11 November 2026, organised by the Socialist Housing Union of Catalonia (Sindicat d'Habitatge Socialista de Catalunya, SHSC), Solidaritat Obrera, and CATAC. The march began at Plaça Jacint Verdaguer at 17:00 and proceeded towards Arc de Triomf, running parallel to but distinct from the broader general strike called by other unions. The protest formed part of a 24-hour general strike across Catalonia over wages and housing conditions, with multiple groups mobilising under different banners. While the main unitary march was organised by platforms including CCOO and UGT, this alternative demonstration explicitly rejected their leadership.
Demand for end to housing speculation
Protesters carried banners with slogans such as "against rent-seeking and employers" and "people without homes and homes without people." The organisers called for a complete ban on housing speculation, the expropriation of properties held by large corporate landlords like CaixaBank and Blackstone, and a democratically planned housing system based on human need rather than profit. Gisela Bermúdez, national spokesperson for the SHSC, stated that housing must be treated as a right, not a commodity. "Housing must be for living in and not for making a profit," she said, arguing that only mass expropriation and rational distribution could resolve the ongoing housing crisis.
"This is the only approach that will have the capacity to profoundly resolve the housing crisis,"
She added that no existing political party is willing to implement such measures, calling instead for a new political and union alternative.
Criticism of major unions and government
Bermúdez criticised both the Spanish government and major trade unions, accusing CCOO and UGT of aligning with the government and turning the strike into an electoral tool for the PSOE. She rejected the idea that the strike supported Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, saying the PSOE had governed for eight years while serving "rentiers and speculators." Oriol Corral, a representative of Solidaritat Obrera in Barcelona's metro, echoed this, stating the alternative march aimed to "distance themselves" from what they described as compromised union leadership. He called CCOO and UGT "sold out" and accused them of being "branches of the Spanish government."
"You cannot trade with what people live in when it comes to housing,"
Corral insisted that access to housing, water, food, and healthcare must not be subject to market forces, and pledged continued mobilisation, including potential indefinite strikes.
Call for systemic change
The demonstration was part of a wider push to redefine housing as a social right. The SHSC and Solidaritat Obrera rejected the official strike leadership's decision not to target the Spanish government directly, arguing that systemic change requires confronting both state and corporate power. The protest passed without reported incidents, with police maintaining a presence along the route. Organisers affirmed their commitment to further actions, including rent strikes and workplace mobilisations, to advance their demands.
Sources: La Ciutat, betevé, Catalan News.
