SPAIN – Millions of Spanish workers shut down businesses and public transportation in a protest on Wednesday over housing costs that the government hopes to leverage before a national election later this month.
The walkout — under the slogan “Salaries. Housing. Prices.” – was the first general strike in Spain in 14 years.
Unions hailed the strike as a success, while Spain’s business owners’ groups said that it had fallen flat. But they agreed that worker participation was higher in heavy industry and transportation, while it lagged in other sectors of the economy like retail and restaurants.
