General strike over housing brings out tens of thousands in Spain

Let's get the inside story. Sarah Morris joins us from Madrid. Sarah, a very good evening to you. This looks like a big protest. What is the mood? What are they saying? And what does it mean for the current prime minister? Well, there's been protests, Mark, today across Spain, but the two biggest ones have probably been in Barcelona and in Madrid. And the one in Barcelona actually attracted this evening two sets of marchers, one going on their own, saying that they didn't want to be politicised in the election campaign. But the biggest one had, according to the police, 50,000 people marching. At the end, we're starting to see a bit of violence from some in that protest throwing fireworks and the police are preparing to deal with that. It looks very much like the Madrid protest has also attracted Thousands and thousands, potentially about 50,000 people who have stood out in the rain, marched through the cities for up to two hours following a big day of picketing. We've seen about 50 arrests. The picketers have complained that the police in areas like Madrid have been heavy-handed, have used pepper spray, and there have been accusations from companies, small businesses, This is that there have been vandalism of their premises and attempts to stop them getting to work if they wanted to work. So it has been a very fractious day. And the Tenants Association that called this strike initially, they're declaring it a huge success. They've even said there were 4 million workers taking part of those 22 million workers, Mark. But of course, they're not a union. We don't really know how they've got any figures. And on the other side, we've got the employers associations saying that the electricity use was down by 5% at 5 o'clock. And they say that is well below most strikes, well below the general strike back in 2012. So, Sarah, the rain not keeping people off the streets of Spain and obviously not stopping you reporting there with your brolly. Very sensible and very wise. I'm wondering about this actual movement, as we've seen in France, a movement that begins mid-September regarding schools becomes suddenly something else, bigger, and it broadens out. Are there signs that that is happening in Spain too? There's certainly a sign that there is a young youth movement that say that the time for politicians is over, that they want action, that they have real demands and that both of the main political parties have failed them. One of the concerns now of some of the observers is that they feel that this is a strike which is... Turning into a populist nature, they say that it seems more politicized than strikes in the past. And some on the conservative side have even accused the unions of doing the bidding of Pedro Sánchez, the socialist prime minister. And that, of course, as a general election campaign is going to kick off in 48 hours, it means there's a very tense mood on the street. And there are just two weeks to go before voters go to the polls. They have a lot to think about, of course. They've had those two tragic train accidents in this year, one just two weeks ago, and we've seen drivers striking over that. 115 people have died. in those two accidents. The train drivers went out on strike yesterday and they plan to strike later this month. They are the sort of strikes that Spaniards tend to see. They are with specific demands. They want the infrastructure improved. But this other general strike here today is a quite different beast. And some people say it's the first time we've seen seen a strike which is not against the government in power. It seems in some ways as if it's against the government that Spaniards could get if the opinion polls are right, Mark. They could get a People's Party with the support from the right wing party, Vox. And some of the chants that we've seen out on the street today have been anti-fascists, speak to that a little bit. And they talk about the fact that they think that... Public services could be slashed when that new government, if the polls are right, does get into power. This is a critical time for Spain on many levels. And Sarah, thank you for explaining the situation and the story behind what we're seeing on the streets. That massive demonstration that's been taking place for the general strike. Sarah Morris, our correspondent in the rain in Madrid. Thank you, as always, for being with us.