The general secretary of CCOO, Unai Sordo, has expressed himself "convinced" that the general strike on November 11 will turn into an "immense social mobilization" that "is going to overflow the streets of all of Spain because housing constitutes the greatest socioeconomic fracture that exists in our country."
This has been stated before the media in Quart de Poblet (Valencia), a locality where he has started the preparation tour for the general strike together with the general secretary of CCOO PV, Ana García.
The union leader has emphasized the social rupture that the housing access problem represents, which is suffered "very intensely by young people," but which also affects, for example, "millions of households where the people that make it up cannot end a romantic relationship because the two people in that house cannot individually acquire a home."
"Today in our country there are hundreds of thousands and not millions of people under 30 or 35 years old who continue living in their parents' house and this is a sociological and even psychological problem of first magnitude," he has pointed out.
Sordo has defended that "housing prices need to be drastically lowered" during "the next decade" and has warned that "regulatory measures alone are not enough," but that "November 11 must change the common sense of Spanish society on how to address the housing issue."
The structural basis of the housing problem
The leader of CCOO has stressed that "the emotional spark that has ignited the housing problem has been the eviction and the subsequent death of Mari Carmen Abascal, but the structural basis of the housing problem has been installed in our country for many years."
In light of this situation, he has called for "a great mobilization that appeals to all public administrations and to all political forces so that, whatever happens in the political cycle in Spain, a truly ambitious housing policy becomes irreversible and allows that no one, that no worker, that no female worker in Spain, has to dedicate more than 30% of their income to pay for a home for life."
Insufficient regulation without public housing
The general secretary of CCOO has emphasized that "housing must be established as a pillar of the welfare state for the 21st century." To this end, he has raised the need for "a large public infrastructure of millions of homes at protected prices that allow millions of families to access those apartments and that also serve to lower market prices."
"If that infrastructure of protected prices is not built, only regulatory measures will not be enough, it will be like an aspirin against a terminal illness," he stated.
Housing and Salaries
Unai Sordo has stressed that "housing hinders the increase of salaries for millions of people," and has insisted that "it is of little use to be at employment records that we are," or that average salaries "are rising above 4% in recent years, which is historic, if then apartments grow at a 12% year-on-year increase." "It is a mess, it is an absurdity, and it is a social problem, but it is also an economic problem for our country," he warned.
For this reason, he indicated that on November 11 "we are going to talk about salaries, because what is happening in Spain for the second time in five years is very serious."
Although he admitted that inflation is linked to international conflicts, Sordo added that "it is also a consequence of the fact that large Spanish companies with market power are increasing prices for families to keep their business profits intact." "And this is a scandal that this country cannot prevent," he warned.
"Therefore, salaries must be increased between 4% and 7%, the SMI must be renewed at least with a 7% increase, and all this must be done through a large state agreement that facilitates the negotiation of corrective agreements. And the blockage of that negotiation by the CEOE is not presentable," he stated.
In this regard, he emphasized that "the CEOE is also the main recipient of this general strike, which aims, above all, to facilitate, promote, and vectorize in the labor field, an immense social mobilization that we are convinced will take place in Spain."
Condemnation of the disturbances in Barcelona and Bilbao
Asked about the possible impact of the strike on the tension in the streets after the riots in Barcelona and Bilbao, Sordo emphasized that "the mobilizations taking place in the housing context, for social demands and those we are going to promote on November 11 are and will be peaceful mobilizations, civic mobilizations." In his view, "Spain always sets an example of civility when it protests for social or political issues in the streets."
Unai Sordo has "condemned and categorically rejected, without any nuance," the incidents of the last few days and has demanded "transparency in knowing who these people are, where they come from, who calls them, and how they are linked to each other," because he believes that "strange things are happening."
Although he specified that he does not want to "make any categorical statement" until he has more data, he warned that "there is a rather unvarnished attempt to destabilize each and every one of the countries of the European Union from foreign forces, from movements that I do not say come directly from any type of State but that are trying to destabilize democracies through the emergence of far-right populisms and through mobilizations that, sometimes, are not such but are acts of looting like those we saw yesterday in Bilbao."
Call for a strike from the area affected by the dana
For her part, the general secretary of CCOO PV has highlighted the "symbolic" component of launching the call for the strike from the area affected by the dana of October 29, 2024, just as the second anniversary of those floods is approaching.
García has emphasized the "multibillion-dollar benefits" of companies, 71 billion in 2025, and has argued that "it is indeed possible to distribute the wealth that the working class is generating" in a context where "people are struggling to make ends meet," she criticized.
In addition, she has stressed that it is essential for housing "to be a right and not a business" and that "there should not be an extraction of income from labor to capital income in housing matters." For this reason, she has urged to "stop life, public services, stop in all companies and fill the demonstrations" planned in the Comunitat Valenciana at 6 PM.