South Africa

“The reason you are poor is not another poor person”

Wednesday 14 October 2026, by Amandla!

Amandla! talked to Thapelo Mohapi, General Secretary of Abahlali baseMjondolo, about the stand they have consistently taken against xenophobia. [1]

Amandla!: You represent people in shack settlements. They face desperate shortages of jobs, housing, land, water. You name it, they suffer a shortage of it. Why do some people come to believe that migrants are responsible for those problems?

Thapelo Mohapi: I lived through the 2008 xenophobia. I lived through the 2015 xenophobia. Xenophobia in South Africa has been here for quite some time. But people or grassroots on the ground are not the ones that are causing it.

I’m going to talk about something very practical. I lived in the community of Briardene informal settlements, and in 2010 we had a shack fire. A lot of people lost their possessions, including migrants from Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe who were living there and renting. And we took a collective decision that, because people were facing an emergency which led to their homes and their property being destroyed, everyone from now on must not pay rent. People must start rebuilding, because government was not there to assist people to rebuild their homes. And we did that. And people from Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe were no longer renting from South Africans. They were now actually owning their own pieces of land in the informal settlements.

That was not a good thing, according to officials of the municipality. Together with the ruling party and other right-wing political parties that exist in the country, they tell people who are living in informal settlements that the reason why they are not getting services is because of migrants. There’s a blockage, and there’s running human waste because we allowed migrants to come. They say the sewage was made for a certain number of people. Now, here are more migrants that are coming in, and they were not part of the budget. And then that starts hate against migrants from people in the community. That’s where people then start this discussion to say we want services from the municipality, but the municipality cannot service the community because there are more people than there were when this small township was planned. And then they start to say, “Okay, let’s get rid of these people so that we can get services from the municipality.”

People live in harmony and peace amongst themselves, regardless of which country they come from. It is when the government, through officials, through politicians, come into the community and says, “The reason why you’re not getting your services is because of a brother and sister from another country that came to this country looking for better opportunity.” And yet they are like any of us who come to the cities to look for better opportunities; we are coming from the rural areas where there is deep poverty.

South Africans are not xenophobic. It is when politicians who have influence and officials of the municipalities come to divide the communities and blame migrants for their failure.

The Franz Fanon School in the eKhenana settlement in KZN. We have a deep political education that we go through before anyone becomes a member of Abahlali baseMjondolo… And that’s why, when we speak, our members listen; because they know that they have a principled position from the leadership through our political education. (Photo: Abahlali baseMjondolo

A!: What do you say to a member of Abahlali baseMjondolo who says to you, “Yes, I accept chasing foreigners won’t solve unemployment or clinic queues. We understand it won’t solve all our problems, but let’s start somewhere.

TM: First and foremost, we have a deep political education that we go through before anyone becomes a member of Abahlali baseMjondolo. Our vision is to struggle for a just and equal society where everyone is treated with respect, and their dignity is recognised. And when we say dignity, we mean human dignity. We are not saying South African. We are not saying African. We are saying human dignity of all humankind. So we must treat every human being as a human being, not as a human waste that needs to be dumped everywhere. I don’t believe that a piece of paper should be the one that recognises if you are a human being.

Capitalism is the reason why human beings are categorised as belonging to somewhere. But human life is more important than profit. Human life must be recognised as the main thing. Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu. We believe that Unyawo alunampumlo. One day, if I go to Zimbabwe, I expect to be treated like a human being, so I must treat that human being the same way when he comes to visit me. Socialism is about that. It’s about humanity. It’s about looking after each other. It’s about treating another human being as a human being, and that life is more important than anything else.

I’m saying this on the back of having people in KZN being killed as a result of this rise of the right wing that has taken place. Someone from Malawi was burnt alive in Mayville. Why would you do something inhuman like that because somebody was born in another country?

A!: Absolutely. But what is very striking in South Africa today is that Abahlali baseMjondolo is like the last tree still standing in the storm. Almost all the other trees have been blown down. There is so little resistance to xenophobia. How do you stand in the storm when everybody else is falling right, left, and centre?

TM: Fascism is something that has been created by the capitalist to say, while they loot, “Let’s allow the brothers and sisters who live in Africa to fight amongst themselves, so that we continue to loot the minerals in these countries.” We work with the Congolese Solidarity Campaign, and they say to us, “Comrades, we are not here to live in your country, but we are here to ask you, as Abahlali baseMjondolo, to help us to go back to the Democratic Republic of Congo, because our resources have been looted there. So, if we form a coalition and work together as Africans, one day, in that country that is ravaged by civil war, you will be able to visit it. I will be the first one to welcome you and say the reason why we are here is because of the revolution that was started in South Africa by Abahlali baseMjondolo. We need your help, just like how we helped you to fight against apartheid. So we can go back into our country in peace and harmony.”

We say to a comrade who believes that things could be better if migrants have left: 300 Ghanaians were flown out of the country. No jobs were created. We had the most deportations of migrants in this country recently, and what happened to our unemployment rate? It increased. The enemy is giving us wrong information so that we fight amongst ourselves.

No African brother or sister who comes from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Mozambique has caused the problem that we have. That is caused by neoliberalism, which has made profit more important than human lives. Unemployment is created by neoliberalism, so that those who own the means of production are the ones who choose what price to pay for those who are selling their labour to them. That is not humanity. It’s thinking about profits before the people.

A!: If we analyse this xenophobia, who benefits from it? Who do you think is behind it? It’s generated somewhere and for some purpose.

TM: Without any doubt. The leader of March and March, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, does not live in an informal settlement. She doesn’t know what the issues of people who are living in informal settlements are. I come from the informal settlement. I know what it’s like to have my house burned down. To lose the photos and memories of my grandparents. That’s what poverty deprives us of. So when I defend humanity, I defend it on the basis that I have lived the experience. When somebody from a privileged life comes to the poor and says the reason why you are poor is because of another poor person, I disagree with that.

We have grants that are not actually covering what a human being in South Africa needs. An average family in South Africa needs more than R5,000 to buy groceries. We are only getting R370, and that doesn’t cover anything in this country. Our economy is stagnating. It doesn’t go anywhere. We have a few billionaires who are richer, while the poor continue to be poor. We have 11,000 children who are dying of malnutrition in a country that is rich. A country that has mineral resources, a country that has plenty of food, and that food is thrown away, and that food is not distributed to the people that need it. The issue of housing continues to be a crisis. There are more informal settlements that are being built every day. We have a problem of leadership; we have a problem of political will, but we also have a problem of a government that continues to employ a neoliberal policy.

We had the most deportations of migrants in this country recently, and what happened to our unemployment rate? It increased. The enemy is giving us wrong information so that we fight amongst ourselves.

A!: What is the right direction to take to persuade the mass of people, not the hardened xenophobes, maybe, but the mass of people who are being led astray? How do we gain the initiative to do that?

TM: The rise of the right wing has been allowed because ‘each one teach one’—a political conscientisation that we’ve had during the UDF—has gone away. We no longer meet and discuss political issues in our communities, which will result in actually teaching the young ones about the struggles that we have faced. So the organic organising that was there back in the days of the UDF—where we had street committees, where we had political education on the ground—is no longer there.

Abahlali baseMjondolo has political education, which we have come from this weekend, with leadership. When we launch a branch anywhere, we do a political education at a branch level. We do political education for the leadership, and we ensure that the leadership runs its meetings, conscientising the people on the ground. And that’s why, when we speak, our members listen; because they know that they have a principled position from the leadership through our political education. And that has lacked a lot. When you want to destroy a nation, you destroy the culture of that nation. And I think Cyril is an ambassador of destroying the culture of political education in our country and promoting capital.

A!: You refer to the national liberation struggle, which is what it was — a struggle to liberate the nation; a single nation, not Xhosas and Zulus and ‘Coloureds’. Now that positive view of a nation is being transformed into a view where we keep everybody else out. Do you think that there is a danger to the nation from this xenophobia? Today they want to keep out Zimbabweans and Malawians. Tomorrow, in Durban, they will want to keep out Xhosas?

TM: Yes. We may think this is xenophobia, but it’s also tribalism. The fact that you have amabutho, which was Shaka’s army at the time, being in the forefront of these marches is an indication. It was happening during the time of Shaka’s army in the 80s, when Inkatha used the very same method to destabilise the province of Natal, and many people died as a result of that. And they were killed by people who were called amabutho, who were actually traditional Zulu people.

Among the first people who were killed in the recent violence was a young Tsonga-speaking South African in the Western Cape. Sometimes you will hear people say that, once we are finished with these migrants, we must deal with these Sothos; we must deal with these Xhosas. And some officials of the municipality will say, “Why are you here? Your municipality is not functioning. Why are you moving to this part of the world?” So, here in KZN, first they come for the migrants who are born in another country, and then later they will deal with people who are South Africans.

We did not fight against apartheid because we were Zulus or Xhosas or Sothos. We fought because we were Blacks and we were being deprived of the right to be South African by a regime that did not recognise our existence as Black people in this country. But today there are people who want to divide the very same people who fought against apartheid into tribes.

The leader of March and March, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, does not live in an informal settlement. She doesn’t know what the issues of people who are living in informal settlements are. I come from the informal settlement. I know what it’s like to have my house burned down. (Photo: Ashraf Hendricks/GroundUp)

A!: What would you say to the organisations of the Left, to the organisations of the working class and the popular movement, that they should be doing now to take us out of this disastrous state that the country is being plunged into?

TM: I think the most important thing right now is for us to go back to who we are and remind ourselves where we come from. We need to have an agreement as the Left about how we fight against what makes us poor, what oppresses us. There are many petty things that have divided the Left. Major trade unions in this country are not working together because of petty issues that have existed in the past. We need to go back to that grassroots organising. Abahlali baseMjondolo is an example of how you organise at a grassroots level. We have political education that is grassroots, on the ground, and we educate our people in the language and in the simplest way that we can, so that they understand the struggles that we are facing.

30 September 2026

Source Amandla!.

Footnotes

[1] (Photo: Ashraf Hendricks/GroundUp) We had the most deportations of migrants in this country recently, and what happened to our unemployment rate? It increased. The enemy is giving us wrong information so that we fight amongst ourselves.

• Amandla!

  South Africa’s progressive magazine standing for social justice.

Kenya-France

Workers’ internationalism in action

Thursday 15 October 2026, by Paul Martial

The struggle for the rights of Kenyan workers at the French multinational digital services company is being organised from Nairobi to Paris.

This is a fine example of an international struggle. The CGT’s telecommunications branch, in collaboration with Kenyan organisations, with the support of legal experts and drawing on academic research, has issued a formal notice to the company Téléperformance.

Social conditions in tatters

Although little known to the general public, Téléperformance, part of the TP holding company, is a French multinational employing over 400,000 staff worldwide. Through a series of acquisitions, TP has diversified, moving from call centres specialising in customer relationship management to visa processing and social media moderation.

The CEO receives a fixed annual salary of $2,625,000, plus a variable component of the same amount, whilst most employees in France barely earn slightly more than the minimum wage. Finally, as Hadrien Clouet, an MP for La France insoumise (LFI), pointed out in his question to the National Assembly in 2024, the 340 interventions by the labour inspectorate since 2016, the 60 on-site inspections to verify compliance with labour regulations, the 150 letters of observation, the dozen reports and the eight formal notices give an idea of the working conditions that may prevail within this company.

Employees at risk

As one might expect, this social abuse is found wherever the company operates. In Kenya, it has no qualms about employing undocumented migrants, which allows it to keep employees under pressure, particularly as, in that country, it is the company’s responsibility to carry out the necessary formalities with the authorities to regularise their status.

Whilst social security contributions are deducted from wages, they are paid late, or not at all, causing hardship for employees and their families, particularly when it comes to accessing healthcare. Any dissenting voice is punished, especially when it comes to trade unionists.

Finally, employees responsible for moderating social media are subjected to a constant stream of content and must identify, within a matter of tens of seconds, the applicable rule to decide whether to remove a post. Added to this pressure are the traumatic effects of exposure to extremely violent content. The psychological support offered by the company falls far short of what is needed. Seeing the company psychologist takes time, at the risk of failing to meet productivity targets. Many employees also have doubts about the confidentiality of these consultations. This is the price employees must pay to ensure a 6.35 per cent return for shareholders.

International mobilisation

In collaboration with two Kenyan organisations – the Data Labellers Association, which supports data workers, and The Oversight Lab, which defends human rights in the field of new technologies – the CGT [major French trade-union confederation] has served a formal notice under the 2017 Duty of Care Act.

The company, whose profits amounted to 497 million euros in 2025, has three months to take measures to ensure the protection of employees and compliance with legislation on work permits and trade union rights. Failing this, the union will take the matter to the relevant courts. This is a model example of a workers’ response to corporate offshoring policies.

15 October 2026

Translated by International Viewpoint from l’Anticapitaliste.

• Paul Martial

  Paul Martial is a correspondent for International Viewpoint. He is editor of Afriques en Lutte and a member of the Fourth International in France.

Spanish state

Spanish Housing Crisis May Bring Down Socialist Government

Friday 16 October 2026, by Dan La Botz

[Bilbao, Spain, October 15, 2026] Hundreds of thousands have marched in Spain in recent weeks to stop evictions, in opposition to housing speculation, against rising rent, and to demand more housing. One woman’s eviction sparked the movement. [1]

On September 23 María del Carmen Abascal, 87, was evicted from the home where she had lived for 70 years. A lower court ordered her return to her home, but the Spanish Supreme Court overturned that ruling and she died in a hospital on October 7. Those events came to symbolize the housing struggle and brought the people of Spain into the streets.
There have been massive marches and occupations of public spaces in Madrid, Barcelona, and other cities, including here in Bilbao, the largest city in Euskadi (the Basque Country). Some local housing activists, about fifty of them, have set up an encampment, a tent city, in front of the massive, squat, neo-baroque Arriaga Theater in the heart of Bilbao.

These housing activists who have been spending their nights in tents now for three weeks, though the encampment is about to end because, according to a young activist interviewed by VoxPopuli, they can no longer continue the fight in this way, “we’re tired, we’re burned out,” though he promises that they will participate in the protest march this weekend and in the general strike called for November 11 by the labor unions.

I enter the encampment, ask if someone can speak with me, an American leftist journalist, and a young man named Mikel offers to talk, though he prefers not to use his last name.

“We established this encampment three weeks ago as part of our fight for housing. We also join with the unions in the marches and rallies. We believe that housing is a basic right. People are entitled to decent housing.”

In fact, Article 47 of the Spanish Constitution states that all Spaniards have a right to “decent and adequate housing,” though this is a “guiding principle” rather than a legal right that can be enforced. So, in 2023, Spain adopted a Housing Law intended to regulate rents, protect tenants, and curb speculation. This year, a new housing law intended to stop evictions of the vulnerable, protect tenants, and cap rents was adopted, then rejected, then re-approved a weaker measure.

Mikel, however, feels that both Euskadi’s autonomous government, headed by centrist President Imanol Pradales, as well as the Spanish government, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of the Socialist Party who has been in power for eight years, have failed the people.

The housing crisis led President Sanchez to call snap elections which will take place on November 29, thinking the movement, including the general strike, could assure his victory. Now, however, it seems they could lead to his defeat and a victory for the rightwing People’s Party and the far-right Vox party but he would rather be fighting over housing than over immigration.

“They talk about improving the housing situation, but they haven’t done it,” says Mikel, “They don’t intervene to control the housing market. There’s a disenchantment with the parties of the left.”

In fact, over the past decade both the Spanish and Euskadi governments, have failed to resolve the housing crisis. According to the Bank of Spain there is a shortage of between 750,000 and more than a million homes. The global and Eurozone crises of 2008 and 2009 led to bankruptcies and evictions as what Mikel calls “vulture funds” moved in to take over housing being abandoned by former owners. Those financiers have continued to dominate the market. Speculating, but not building homes. In addition. social and public housing accounts for only about 2.5% to 3.3% of Spain’s total residential stock, compared to about 10% for the European Union and as much as 20% in Sweden.

The Spanish far right parties blame the housing crisis entirely on immigration. In the last decade, Spain’s population grew from 46.42 million to 49.8 million, a growth of 3.38 million, all of it the result of immigration. But in that decade, Spain built only 800,000 to 850,000 new homes when hundreds of thousands more were needed.

The increased demand for housing has led to the rising rents. And it is true that with the Socialist Party’s liberal immigration policies the immigrant population grew rapidly. Still, it is those immigrants who made it possible for Spain to maintain and expand its population, since the country has one of the lowest birthrates in the European Union, with a fertility rate below the generational replacement level. Those immigrants from Latin America and Morocco have also been an important factor in the success of Spain’s economy relative to the rest of Europe.

The problem isn’t immigration, it’s wages, volunteer several activists in the encampment who are listening to Mikel and me as we talk.

“I used to work in public transportation,” says one woman. “With those wages there is no way to keep up with rising rents.”

Another woman says, “With my wages it would be impossible for me to ever pay off a mortgage.”

And, according to economic studies, they’re right. Rents have been rising seven times faster than wages, and today working people in Spain use 50% of their wages to pay their rent, while not long ago they used only 30%.

“We need rent freezes,” says Mikel. “We’re not asking for anything extravagant,” he says, “we just want decent housing.”

16 October 2026

Souce: New Politics.

Footnotes

[1] Photo: Housing is a right

• Dan La Botz

  Dan La Botz was a founding member of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU). He is the author of Rank-and-File Rebellion: Teamsters for a Democratic Union (1991). He is also a co-editor of New Politics and editor of Mexican Labor News and Analysis.

Spanish state

Maricarmen, the general strike and the threat of an electoral victory for the reactionary bloc

Monday 12 October 2026, by Jaime Pastor

Today, renting has finally killed our companion Maricarmen. [1]

Alicia del Río

This statement by one of the spokespersons for the Tenants’ Union—the organisation that stood by Maricarmen in her fight against eviction right up to the very end—vividly conveys the shock caused by her death on October 7 among a broad and diverse majority of society, extending even beyond the borders of Spain. The cruelty and the malice—fuelled by falsehoods—directed at her by both the vulture fund and the reactionary political, judicial, and media bloc have been completely exposed, leaving no room for excuses. The rage and indignation that have been evident in the protests against the eviction since September 23rd have now reached unprecedented levels, providing even more impetus for a movement that is growing stronger by the day—as demonstrated by the encampments and new acts of solidarity across the country with the person who has become a symbol of the movement. In all of them—as was written from the Sol encampment—“Maricarmen has been and will be a symbol and an example for all of us, for the protest for decent housing, and for continuing to organise for our rights. She has been the spark that ignited this fire of unstoppable struggle.”

This harsh and sad news came after Pedro Sánchez’s decision to call a general election for November 29, convinced that the social outcry over housing might offer him the best possible opportunity to remobilise the left-wing electorate and counter the prediction—shared by virtually all polls—of an absolute majority victory for the PP-Vox coalition. [2] It also coincides with the support of virtually all national and regional trade unions for the Tenants’ Union initiative to call a general strike, scheduled for November 11.

Sánchez’s final decision to call early elections had become virtually inevitable following Junts’ [3] rejection of the initial housing decree and with no hope whatsoever that the proposed general budget would secure a parliamentary majority. Sánchez also had to take into account that he was unlikely to face a better set of circumstances in the coming months, given that inflation continues to rise (currently 4.9%) and legal harassment (the Zapatero and Leire Díez cases) [4] as well as issues involving family members, shows no signs of ending. That is why he chose to announce the call for elections with a speech in which he once again employed anti-elite rhetoric and boasted of some of his moderate social measures or of favourable economic growth figures even though these continue to contrast with the deteriorating material living conditions (especially regarding wages, housing, and prices, not to mention healthcare and education) of the majority of the working class.

Furthermore, Sánchez has opted to have the Council of Ministers re-approve—with some modifications—the two decrees [5] that were previously rejected by Congress, aiming to secure approval for at least the first one in the Diputación Permanente (Permanent Deputation or DP [6]) within a month. In doing so, he seeks to demonstrate that he remains responsive to the pressure exerted by the housing movement, attempting to position himself as its ally against the PP, Vox, Junts, and the conservative Unión del Pueblo Navarro (Navarrese People’s Union or UPN).

However, staging a comeback like the one in July 2023 will not be so easy this time; the task would be far more daunting now, as the advance of the right—particularly Vox—appears difficult to reverse. Compounding this is the fact that disillusionment with the PSOE-Sumar [7] coalition government has grown substantially among many working-class people, driven by numerous policies—or unfulfilled promises—regarding issues such as housing and the failure to repeal the "Gag Law" over the course of its eight years in office.

The PP and Vox were quick to respond to the snap election call—despite their initial bewilderment—since, prior to the Maricarmen eviction incident, the Ceuta crisis had offered them a more favourable landscape for their racist campaign and their electoral prospects. [8] Alberto Núñez Feijóo, head of the PP and leader of the Spanish opposition, has nevertheless expressed his satisfaction, as he sees himself—"at last"—as the future head of government. Even so, he does not appear entirely convinced, for he has once again resorted to the threat of electoral fraud, following the lead of Isabel Díaz Ayuso (President of the Community of Madrid and the PP) and Vox as loyal vassals of Trumpism. That said, the PP leader is barely heard speaking about policy proposals—beyond wanting to repeal any progressive measures enacted under Sanchismo and his obsession with sick leave—or doing anything other than trumpeting slogans like “PSOE or democracy” or “Spain against the PSOE.”

But, once again, it is former Prime Minister Aznar who has spoken most plainly, attributing profound significance to the November 29 elections. He goes so far as to argue that these are the most important elections since the Transition, as the future of the "Regime of ’78"—with the monarchy at its helm—is supposedly at stake...

As for Vox, its proclaimed pillars of "national priority, deregulation, and remigration" leave no doubt about its intentions should it come to power: to impose a policy that is racist, aporophobic, sexist, climate-change-denying, and ultraliberal—a stance now confirmed regarding a key issue, the pension counter-reform already announced by that sinister figure, MP José Figaredo, of Vox—the very man who called for the hunting of migrants in Ceuta. So, what awaits us if these parties come to power—amid the rise of the reactionary international, as we are currently seeing in Germany and Brazil—is a genuine counter-reform on the political, social, and cultural fronts.

Meanwhile, the call for elections has caught the national-level forces to the left of the PSOE—which have governed alongside that party—in the midst of a dispute. The conflict centers on who will lead the Sumar coalition—now being renamed the Frente Amplio (Broad Front)—and the question of whether or not to reach an agreement with Podemos. As polls predict, the potential electorate for that political space has shrunk significantly over the past eight years; the total vote share would likely be higher if they ran separately—to the benefit of the PSOE or of voter abstention. Occupying other political spaces are the regionalist left-wing parties (such as EH Bildu in the Basque Country; Bloque Nacionalista Galego, the Galician National Bloc; Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, Republican Left of Catalonia; Coalició Compromís in Valencia; Chunta Aragonesista, Aragonese Union; and Adelante Andalucía, Forward Andalusia)—which possess genuine territorial roots—and will run under their own banners. It remains to be seen what platform and rhetoric they will adopt, in order to assess whether they reflect a desire to shift political direction following the varying degrees of subordination to the PSOE they have maintained until now. Separate cases are those of Adelante Andalucía—a proponent of anti-capitalist Andalusianism—and the Candidatura d’Unitat Popular (Popular Unity Candidacy or CUP) in Catalonia, whose national leadership has decided not to run, although this decision must still be ratified in an internal referendum.

On the other hand, what is also becoming apparent in these mobilisations is the emergence of a new generation of social and political activists who—alongside significant segments of earlier generations—are articulating a new process of radicalisation that urgently demands a left-wing movement committed to a clean break from, and independence from, the still-hegemonic socio-liberalism. [9]

Prepare and Organise the General Strike

In any case, preparing for the General Strike on November 11 requires the greatest possible unity of action among the organising bodies to establish neighbourhood, workplace, and campus committees across the country—as has already been proposed by the Tenants’ Union and various other trade union, feminist, environmental, and social organisations. It must be—as was successfully proposed for the feminist General Strike of March 8, 2018—"a strike involving labour, care work, consumers, and students," although its impact in factories was limited at the time, since the major unions called only for partial, two-hour work stoppages.

Therefore, there are sufficient grounds to believe that the agreement reached regarding this call to action will pave the way for a virtually total work stoppage—an unprecedented scenario on the eve of an election campaign. Moreover, this process is unfolding against the backdrop of a likely "hot autumn" across Europe—a phenomenon not seen in a long time, as we are already witnessing in France and Belgium.

Obviously, there are various currents and strategies within that bloc; therefore, efforts must be made to avoid any instrumentalisation for electoral gain. Instead, this call to action should be grounded in shared objectives that—while rooted in demands for decent housing, fair wages, and fair prices—go further to target a form of capitalism that is rent-seeking, speculative, and predatory.

This mobilisation cannot remain indifferent to the threat posed by an electoral victory for the right—a threat that must be confronted with our full collective strength. Yet, this must be done while asserting the movement’s autonomy and its readiness to keep fighting regardless of who holds power, at any level, both before and after November 29. This is all the more true given that primary authority over housing lies with the autonomous communities and municipalities—mostly governed by the PP, and in many cases in coalition with Vox.

We are entering a decisive few weeks in which the reactionary bloc, business associations, and rent-seeking lobbies—emboldened by the blackmailing power they demonstrated against Junts—will not hesitate to use every possible dirty tactic to prevent the General Strike from becoming a success capable of shifting the current balance of power.

10 October 2026

Translated and annotated by David Fagan for International Viewpoint from Viento Sur.

Footnotes

[1] On 23 September 2026, María del Carmen Abascal (Maricarmen)was forcibly removed on a stretcher from her Madrid apartment of 70 years after an investment fund bought the building and tried to raise her rent by over 200% (to roughly $1,880 a month) to clear the way for tourist rentals.

[2] The right-wing Partido Popular (People’s Party or PP) has forged a number of alliances with the far-right Vox (Voice) party.

[3] Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia, JxCat or Junts ) is a Catalan pro-independence centre-right, populist political party.

[4] Former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Zapatero of the social-democratic Partido Socialista Obrero Español (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party or PSOE) and former PSOE member Leire Díez are linked in a number of corruption investigations.

[5] For a discussion on some of the limitations and contradictions of these decrees and the need to “ban the purchase of housing not intended for owner-occupation,” see: “Vivienda: una situación insostenible”, Gloria Marín and María Gómez, viento sur, October 3, 2026. For a historical perspective on the Spanish real estate model, the 1997–2007 bubble, and its consequences up to the present day: “Urbanismo con burbujas, auge de las operaciones y declive del planeamiento”, José Manuel Naredo, viento sur, October 7, 2026. Also: “Con la carne de gallina: Desbandada de los fondos buitre, la desregulación y la vivienda”, Fátima Martín, viento sur, October 10, 2026.

[6] The DP is a parliamentary body consisting of a reduced number of members of parliament which assume the legislative powers of the Parliament when it is not in session.

[7] Movimiento Sumar (Unite Movement or MS) is an electoral alliance formed by Spanish second deputy prime minister, labour minister and member of the Communist Party of Spain, Yolanda Díaz involving a number of leftist formations including—temporarily—Podemos.

[8] An election poll conducted on October 7–8 and published in El País on October 9—that is, following Maricarmen’s eviction and the announcement of a snap election—assigns 50.8% of the vote to the bloc comprising the PP (31.9%) and Vox (18.9%), while the PSOE garners 28.1%, Sumar 5.3%, and Podemos 2.3%. This would yield a total of nearly 200 seats for the PP and Vox combined, whereas the progressive coalition would fall short of 130. While seats won by non-state-level left-wing political forces would need to be added to the latter figure, the gap remains far wider than it was prior to the start of the 2023 election campaign.

[9] Even before the "Maricarmen effect," there were already polls pointing to that trend: “Los votantes de izquierda se sitúan más a la izquierda en una España que gira a la derecha” (Público, September 26, 2019).

• Jaime Pastor

  Jaime Pastor, professor of political science, member of Anticapitalistas (section of the Fourth International in the Spanish state), is the managing editor of the magazine Viento Sur.