Workers, Students Across Spain Strike For Palestine

Trade unions and youth organizations across Spain held strikes and nationwide demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine on Wednesday, October 15. Tens of thousands of people joined rallies in major cities, demanding an end to ties with Israel, justice for Palestine, and expressing opposition to Europe’s militarization. They also criticized Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s administration for failing to take all necessary measures to sanction Israel despite formal condemnations of the genocide.

The actions in Spain came just weeks after two general strikes brought Italy to a halt over similar demands, underscoring that solidarity with Palestine remains a key moment for social movements in Europe.

Speaking at one of the rallies, Coral Latorre from the Students’ Union (Sindicato de Estudiantes) highlighted the crucial role of students and young people in sustaining the solidarity movement. Approximately 25,000 students participated in the demonstrations at Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, with thousands more joining protests in Barcelona, Tarragona, Valencia, and other cities following a wave of successful mobilizations earlier this month.

“Today we’re not only students [going on strike], but also workers,” Latorre said. “From the first hours of the morning, pickets, roadblocks, rallies in companies and factories, entire enterprises on strike… We said: we’ll block everything, and that’s what we’re doing with this day of general strike.”

October 15 rally in Barcelona. Source: Sindicato de Estudiantes/X

Frustration over the praise received by the recent ceasefire agreement announced by US President Donald Trump and Israeli authorities added fuel to the demonstrations. Protesters denounced the hypocrisy of European leaders congratulating Trump for his “peacemaking skills” while maintaining political, economic, and military cooperation with Israel and investing billions of euros in militarization.

“The ‘peace’ of the genocidal is not peace,” Latorre warned. “It is a farce to crown genocide, to turn Palestine into a colony, and to strip the Palestinian people of their right to exist […] This plan will bring neither justice nor freedom for Palestine.”

Workers’ organizations, including the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), contextualized European governments’ support for Israel under their broader programs of militarization and austerity. While workers have mobilized for peace and solidarity with Palestine since the beginning of the genocide, governments have instead chosen policies that fund arms manufacturers and eliminate social protections. “CGT bases the call for this day of strike in the fight for a redistribution of public spending in favor of workers, and against the rise of public investment in items aimed at defense and militarization,” the trade union wrote.

The CGT emphasized that ongoing trade relations with Israel and increased military expenditure both show “that public budgets are being used for interests far from the reality that workers live.”

In some cities, protesters reported police repression. According to the Students’ Union, attempts to suppress Palestine solidarity actions in Europe following the ceasefire announcement should be taken as a clear signal to intensify mobilization, not scale it back.

“The [Trump] plan is a scam made by the executioners of the Palestinian people,” Latorre said. “That is why mobilization must continue, and our efforts must be redoubled. They want us to leave the streets precisely because now we’re coming out in greater numbers than ever: we have to keep pushing and keep raising our voices.”

Courtesy: Peoples Dispatch