A massive demonstration in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria put the finishing touch on Wednesday’s general strike day, with the housing crisis as the main focus of the demands and harsh criticism aimed at political officials and employer organizations.
More than 8,000 people, according to the first calculations made on the ground, began the march after 6:00 p.m., with about a 30-minute delay compared with the scheduled time, heading for the Government Delegation.
At the head of the protest was the CCOO union, followed by UGT, groups of teachers, bus workers, and various collectives in defense of the right to housing, among others. The column of demonstrators needed around half an hour to leave Parque Santa Catalina in stages and advance along León and Castillo Street.
During the course of the march, chants were shouted against the employer class, against the “housing speculators” and vulture funds, while the regional authorities also became a target of reproaches.
Among the most visible symbols were the flags and colors of the unions calling the event, along with some Canary flag with the seven green stars —the traditional emblem of Canarian independence—. However, the largest banner was a flag of Palestine, carried by about ten people.
At the same time, there were no direct references to the central Government or to the president, Pedro Sánchez, although messages of discontent about the housing situation, the loss of purchasing power of wages, and the need for effective solutions to be put in place were repeated.
Unions and housing, at the center of the conflict
Before the start of the march, the island secretary of CCOO in Gran Canaria, Esther Ortega Romero, told the media that the strike’s follow-through had been uneven depending on the area: from “30 or 40% in Mercalaspalmas,” widespread in transport except for the minimum services that she described as “abusive,” while employer organizations downplayed the impact in the private sector and labeled it marginal.
In any case, she stressed that the main source of discontent is concentrated in housing and not so much in strict working conditions, which is why she considered that the central event of the day was precisely this demonstration in the Gran Canaria capital, parallel to the mobilizations called in other cities across the State.
An "atypical" general strike and a new impetus to activism
Ortega also admitted that it was an "atypical" general strike, "in the sense that it is precisely being driven by the tenants' union" and "the housing movement," which has made it possible to bring numerous young people into social activism. The objective, he argued, is "to recover class consciousness."