The parties to the left of the PSOE are preparing to take to the streets this Wednesday in support of the general strike for housing, wages, and public services. The Frente Amplio, Podemos, ERC, EH Bildu, and BNG have called for a mobilization that will feature political leaders in demonstrations and informational pickets across the country.
The day comes on the eve of the general election campaign on November 29, but its origin lies in the demands of the housing movement and trade union organizations. CCOO, UGT, CGT, CNT, the Confederation of Tenant Unions, and other collectives are calling for the 24-hour strike to demand solutions to rental prices, wage improvements, and more social protection.
The support is shared, although the political interpretations have nuances. While the Frente Amplio defends the housing measures it has promoted from the Government, Podemos also points to the Executive among those responsible for allowing speculation. Both groups agree on calling for massive participation to demand changes.
Colau, Montero, and Belarra will take the protest to the streets
The Frente Amplio will suspend its ordinary pre-campaign activity to support the mobilizations. Its presidential candidate, Ada Colau, is scheduled to participate in a demonstration and address the media. From Catalonia, where she will spend the day, one of the political leaders who has placed housing at the center of her campaign will join the protest.
In Madrid, Podemos candidate, Irene Montero, will attend the demonstration alongside the party's general secretary, Ione Belarra. Montero has been calling for "paralyzing the country" for days and has insisted that the strike targets investment funds and governments that, in her opinion, have allowed housing prices to continue to rise.
The Madrid mobilization will also feature the Más Madrid spokesperson in the City Council, Rita Maestre; the regional spokesperson, Manuela Bergerot; the head of the Frente Amplio list for Madrid, Emilio Delgado, and the federal coordinator of IU, Antonio Maíllo. Delgado plans to participate in a picket alongside MEP Estrella Galán and representatives of La France Insoumise.
Más Madrid will mobilize deputies and councilors in different parts of the community and will open offices in Madrid capital and Móstoles as supply points. In Catalonia, ERC has called its members to the mobilizations and its president, Oriol Junqueras, is scheduled to attend the concentration in Plaça de la Universitat in Barcelona and the afternoon demonstration.
IU and Compromís officials will contribute money to the resistance funds
Support for the day will also translate into financial contributions. The federal leadership of Izquierda Unida has agreed that its leaders who go on strike will allocate an amount equivalent to the salary discount for the day to the resistance fund of the Tenants' Union and to other initiatives linked to labor conflicts.
Among them, Antonio Maíllo and deputies from Por Andalucía plan to financially support the Tenants' Union. IU deputies in Congress Enrique Santiago and Toni Valero will allocate their contribution to public education teachers in Andalusia, who are maintaining an indefinite strike. Compromís deputy Alberto Ibáñez will also donate his salary for the day to social entities.
In Andalusia, Por Andalucía and Adelante Andalucía have announced that their representatives will go on strike and will not attend the regional Parliament, where the budgets are being debated. EH Bildu, Contigo Navarra and the BNG, whose national spokesperson, Ana Pontón, has called for "massive" participation, have also expressed their support for the mobilization.
For his part, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the ministers will not have events on their public agendas this Wednesday due to the strike. Sources from the socialist wing of the Executive have specified that most plan to continue office work. The Government spokesperson, Elma Saiz, has defended the right of workers to decide whether to support the strike.
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