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Housing and wage demands bring Madrid's general strike to Cibeles

Rain-soaked live footage shows the capital's march, while unions and employers give sharply different accounts of the nationwide walkout.

Channel: EL PAÍS ·

SpainStory of November 12, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? One of EL PAÍS's most watched videos since yesterday, with 198,443 views.

EL PAÍS: A Spanish daily newspaper published since 1976, owned by the PRISA group. 3.4M subscribers and 2.5B views.

EN DIRECTO | Manifestación durante la huelga general en Madrid | EL PAÍS

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0:00An elevated nighttime view shows a Madrid avenue filled with demonstrators sheltering beneath umbrellas.
6:21Marchers carry a large yellow-and-white banner across the width of a section of the procession.
12:43The camera moves to street level as demonstrators and pedestrians walk across wet asphalt and puddles.
15:58The crowd repeatedly chants for a general strike.
18:42The elevated view returns as the banner-led procession enters a packed Plaza de Cibeles.

Demands for affordable housing and higher wages brought demonstrators into central Madrid on November 11, with crowds filling Plaza de Cibeles beneath umbrellas and union flags.

Spain's newspaper EL PAÍS carries the march in an extended live broadcast. An elevated camera shows the avenue packed with people moving slowly through steady rain, before the view drops to street level, where marchers cross wet asphalt and puddles. One banner reads, in English translation, "Working to survive. Let's stop the ruin." Later, the crowd repeatedly chants for a general strike.

The march formed part of what the newspaper describes in its separate nationwide roundup as Spain's first general strike in 14 years. That report says protesters called for better access to housing, wage increases and action against speculation. The major unions UGT and CCOO backed the mobilization; CCOO flags are visible in the live footage.

The size of the evening demonstrations and participation in the workplace stoppage are distinct questions. The newspaper cites the central government's delegation in Madrid as putting attendance at the capital's march at 120,000. Unions described the strike as highly successful, with participation above their expectations. Employers' organizations called it a failure and said average participation was below five percent.

The nationwide roundup also reports road blockages, canceled trains and hundreds of canceled flights. Those wider disruptions are not what this live camera follows: its focus stays on Madrid's streets, returning to an elevated view as a banner-led section of the procession enters the crowded square.

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