Spain’s general election campaign formally kicks off, at least 51 arrested during general strike, and more news from Spain on Thursday November 12th.
Spain’s general election campaign formally kicks off
Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, will kick off the election campaign for the general election on 29th November this Thursday in Seville, whilst the leader of the opposition Partido Popular (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, will do so in Badalona.
Far-right Vox leader Santiago Abascal and hard-left Frente Amplio candidate Ada Colau have chosen Madrid for their campaign launches.
The campaign officially begins at midnight, with candidates travelling across Spain to campaign for their parties ahead of polling day, holding traditional rallies and election events.
READ ALSO: Vox rising – What latest polls say a month away from Spain’s election
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At least 51 arrested and nearly a thousand incidents during Spain’s general strike
Spanish police arrested at least 51 people on Wednesday in various cities during the general strike, recording some 919 incidents.
Pending the final tally, the Ministry of the Interior reported that the number of people arrested in Madrid was highest, with at least 15 as of Wednesday evening.
Arrests were also made in Málaga, Almería, Valencia, Granada, Zamora, Navarre, Valladolid, La Rioja, Alicante, Castellón and La Coruña.
Housing costs in Spain rose by 59.7% between 2015-2025 — but wages by just 28%
Between 2015 and 2025, housing costs rose by 59.7 percent in Spain whilst the average wage went up by just 28 percent.
Stagnant wages struggling to keep up with soaring house prices, and the growing disparity between them, was one of the main causes behind Wednesday’s general strike.
The data shows that this has punished people into poverty: in 2025, 49.9 percent of people living in private-sector rented accommodation near the poverty line once the cost of housing has been deducted, according to the FEDEA study ‘The Cost of Housing and Hidden Poverty in Spain: 2014–2025’.
Far-right leader in last minute podcast cancellation
The leader of Spain’s far-right party Vox, Santiago Abascal, yesterday cancelled at the last minute a scheduled interview with popular podcaster Jordi Wild.
Abascal reportedly decided that, moving forward, he will only accept interviews that allow the party to have access to and use his answers, suspending all scheduled recordings in which “the party’s full rights and autonomy are not guaranteed”.
Vox announced this in a statement, explaining that it had reached the decision after RTVE and the production company El Terrat refused to release the 40 minutes that had been cut from Monday’s interview with Abascal on the programme La Revuelta.
READ ALSO: Inside Spain – Could the ‘Spanish Joe Rogan’ decide the election?
