Thousands-strong housing protest leads to clashes with police in Barcelona

Monday evening saw a housing demonstration descend into violent clashes with police in the centre of Barcelona. 

Thousands of housing activists - 20,000 according to authorities, 120,000 according to organizers - demonstrated in Barcelona for the right to housing, gathering in the early evening.

The activists called for a general strike, an action that two major nationwide unions, CCOO and UGT, have agreed to call for November.

The Tenants' Union urged people to "win" this strike and expressed confidence that "everyone will join the wave."

"A new political cycle is beginning that says 'enough is enough,'" stated spokesperson Carme Arcarazo.

The demonstration was called after the Spanish Congress rejected the government's housing decrees last Friday, with the 'no' votes from the right-wing forces of the People's Party, Vox, and Junts. 

The failure of the decrees then led to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez calling a general election on Monday morning, set for November 29. 

Clashes

Later in the evening, the centre of Barcelona was the scene of violent clashes between demonstrators and police. 

Once the protest was called off, a group of activists clashed with the Mossos d'Esquadra. Construction materials and other blunt objects were thrown at the police, who responded with charges to disperse the crowd, and shots of rubber bullets.

Rubbish containers were burned and stones were thrown against shop windows between Passeig de Gràcia and Plaça Catalunya.

One of the moments of hightest tension came at the Canaletes area of La Rambla, where activists took construction material from the works being carried out there.

There were episodes of clashes, violence, and police charges lasting until midnight. Police managed to push the activists towards the centre of Plaça Catalunya, where the protest camp for the housing crisis has been set up since last week.

For a while the police vans surrounded the hundrds-strong group by all the accesses to the square, but then the officers left several points and only a few remained.