EN -‘They Don’t Represent Us’, So We Organize

This image was taken in 2011 in Puerta del Sol, Madrid. 15 years later, the central square doesn’t look much different. 

On 23rd September, María del Carmen Abascal (more commonly known by the Spanish population as “Maricarmen”) was evicted from her apartment where she had been living for the past 70 years. Her eviction, although not uncommon, didn’t go unnoticed and faced severe opposition from an already drained community, having more impact than anyone could have predicted. During the afternoon of that same day, thousands of people organised in Madrid to protest not only for Maricarmen but for the unworthy housing situation the Spanish population has been dealing with for the past years. 

The mobilisation didn’t stay within the limits of the capital. It compelled multiple provinces (e.g., Granada, Barcelona, Sevilla, Valencia), turning into one of the biggest nationwide movements that Spain has seen in years. So big that, on October 7th, a general strike was called by the Sindicato de Inquilinas (Union of Tenants) for the 11th of November, 18 days before the snap elections called by Pedro Sánchez. 

Yesterday, 11th of November, Spain is witnessing something that hasn’t happened in the past 15 years, since the generation of the Indignados (outraged), and it was started, for the first time, by a union of tenants. 

The Inheritance: the 15-M 

The type of mobilisation, both in form and size, we are currently observing isn’t new for the political activity of Spain. The 15M movement (or the Indignados movement), which erupted in May 2011, was a turning point in Spain’s political and social trajectory. It was the first major revolt against austerity policies (hardened since 2010 by the presidency of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero) and is considered by historians and academics the biggest revolt against the institutional order established during the Transition period from Franco’s dictatorship to a ‘democracy’; the so-called Regime of 1978. 

As it would happen 15 years later, the 15-M started with thousands of, mainly young, Spaniards camping out in Madrid’s central square: Puerta de Sol, under the motto ‘They don’t represent us’. It came as a response to the crushing effect of the 2008 recession. The 15-M network was the birth of the ‘Occupy’ movement, inspiring sit-in protests in other Western capitals (e.g.: London, New York). The movement won a moral argument and changed the vocabulary of Spanish politics, leaving a legacy of organisation and of mobilisation through social networks that, although weakened and marginalised throughout the years, persisted enough to influence today’s paradigm.  

The institutional expression that came from it was the political party Podemos, co-founded by Pablo Iglesias. However, the effects on the Spanish party system were not very long-lasting given the withdrawal of Pablo Iglesias from active politics in 2021. Podemos and its allies tried to turn the energy of the squares into political seats, and spent the following decade learning what institutions do to insurgents.        

Currently, we are witnessing the third ‘attempt’ at questioning the whole system in Spain, organised around the oldest relationship: the one between the tenant and the landlord. However, this time, the people have stopped asking to be represented and have started asking to be recognized, with a federation of tenant organisations from across Spain prepared for it.   

The 11-N Strike: What a Union of Tenants Wants and Means

A tenant union rises as a new political form asking for recognition, with the standing to negotiate housing conditions. That is a demand, not a petition, for a seat at the table, asking to be recognised as a worthy party to a negotiation. The tenant union, alongside other anarcho-syndicalist unions, is trying to blur the line between a housing struggle and a labour struggle and thus asks us to re-think the concept of housing, not as a market that follows the rules of supply and demand, but as a basic human right. 

The demands made follow that argument, asking for a reduction of rents by 50%, expropriation of vulture funds and vacants, a re-appropriation of touristic apartments and indefinite-term rental agreements, among other requests. However, what it demands is, arguably, less important than what it represents: the re-gaining of independent organisation when the system in place fails to serve the people. Its spokesperson in Madrid, Sabina Carau, summarizes the point of the protest and the following strike in a phrase: “esta huelga no es de nadie, es por y para el pueblo” (this strike belongs to no one, it’s by and for the people) 

As mentioned previously, the 11 of November general strike will be the first one since 2012, called by CC.OO (Comisiones Obreras), UGT (Unión General de Trabajadoras y Trabajadores), CGT (Confederación General del Trabajo), CNT (Confederación Nacional de Trabajo) and Madrid’s tenant unions. Strike committees have spread through workplaces and neighborhoods, taking the stoppage to the ‘barrios’, the workplaces and the schools, with around 4.200 work councils confirming their support for the strike. The call began with the smaller, more militant groups, later drawing in UGT and CC.OO. It is the first strike driven by a tenant union, bringing together major confederations, anarcho-syndicalism and the tenants’ collective. For a country whose big confederations are often accused of arriving late to everything, this time the institutional unions followed the street. 

What Comes Next: November 29

After the parliamentary defeat of its housing decrees, which PP, Vox and Junts voted down, Pedro Sánchez called the early elections, claiming he wanted a much larger progressive majority, and put housing at the centre of the campaign. He also acknowledged his shortcomings in campaign promises and his role in the people’s dissatisfaction. The defeat in parliament was yet another setback for Sanchez, bringing out questions of whether he would have lasted until the next scheduled general election in 2027. 

Nevertheless, this has put the left-wing voters in a complex situation. The Socialist prime minister has held his position for more than eight years. This movement, the one that tipped the water over the edge, is, among other things, an indictment of what those eight years did not deliver to the population, and, while the PSOE may have accepted the risk that protesters would turn on the government’s record, the polling suggests the risk is not evenly shared.  

A poll from El País forecasted over 190 combined seats between PP, Vox and UPN, against 176 needed for a majority. On the other hand, PSOE is predicted to regain ground, with the alternative left collapsing, giving little more than 5% to Frente Amplio. Once again, the population is faced with the same bipartisan system that was once challenged by the generation of Indignados, and, as history repeats itself, it is inevitable to not think back to that motto: ‘They don’t represent us’. 

If the movement’s real innovation is organisational, then the 29 November elections are the wrong yardstick. The 15-M generations have stopped asking how to win the parties over. The heirs of their ideals have stopped asking to be represented and instead, have organised. If predictions are correct, in a few weeks, Spain will have, once again, insufficient government (that will threaten even further our rights) and an ever-repeating problem. Our vote matters more than ever, but an even more important question shall be considered by the Spanish population: will we continue to ask, or will we organize?