From Madrid, to Vigo, to Zaragoza, and Barcelona, tens of thousands across the Spanish State took to the streets and workers went on strike in solidarity with Palestine. This national day of action in denunciation of Israel’s genocide in Gaza came less than week after the announcement of the ceasefire deal brokered by Trump. Far from bringing “peace” to Palestinians on the besieged strip, the deal is aimed at establishing Gaza as a protectorate beholden to imperialist interests.
Rallies, Pickets, and Mass Marches
In the face of a massive outcry from below in solidarity with the Palestinian people’s struggle, the major unions in Spain, the Workers’ Commissions (CCOO) and the UGT, were forced to call two-hour strikes on October 15 (from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.) — a belated and insufficient measure, especially as they did little to mobilize in the workplaces.
In the face of this, various militant trade union organizations such as the CGT, Co.bas, Solidaridad Obrera, ASC, SAT, the Trade Union Confederation, the Intersindical de Catalunya, the Intersindical Valenciana, among others, called and provided legal support for a 24-hour strike throughout the country. The majority of Basque unions (LAB, ELA, CCOO, UGT, ESK, STEILAS, CGT, Etxalde, and HIRU) called for three-hour strikes and demonstrations in the main cities during the day. Meanwhile, organizations such as the Student Union, Contracorriente, the Socialist Movement groups, and the SEPC in Catalonia joined in the calls, agitating for a student strike in high schools and universities.
Indeed, in anticipation of Wednesday, there were over 200 calls for full or partial strikes, pickets, rallies, and demonstrations issued across the country. And it was a call and thousands answered.
In Barcelona, morning pickets successfully blocked key transport hubs, including the port of Barcelona — the place from where the boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla departed earlier in September. The day culminated in a massive evening demonstration that departed from Sants Station. It is estimated that over 15,000 people took to the streets across the city.
In Madrid, informational pickets sprouted at strategic locations including Metro stations, Airbus factories, and the Telefónica headquarters. University and high school students walked out of class and marched to a rally at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where they joined with other demonstrators, chanting slogans for Palestine and saying, “It is not a peace plan if it is led by Trump.” Hundreds of activists ended the evening with a sit-in at Gran Via, one the city’s main thoroughfares.
In Zaragoza, hundreds of healthcare workers merged with students who walked out of the University Clinical Hospital, holding a joint worker-student rally. Protests then moved to the Plaza de Aragón.
In Málaga in the south, thousands of protesters blocked the Alameda Principal, one of the city’s main avenues, with a sit-in in solidarity with Palestine. Informational pickets and also sprung up outside the Airbus facility in Getafe as workers, unions, and students denounced the company’s complicity in the genocide in Gaza.
Significant protests and strikes were also reported in Galicia, Asturias, and the Basque Country.
The Latest Chapter in a Growing Workers’ Response
The strikes represent the latest chapter in an escalating global movement of resistance against the genocide Gaza. They came on the heels of a massive strike in Italy where millions of workers blocked ports and cities across the country and threatened to block all of Europe, as well as the attempt by hundreds of activists from around the world aboard aid flotillas to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza.
These actions are far from isolated: for over two years, solidarity with the Palestinian people has only grown as Israel’s genocide has continued. Hundreds of thousands have protested in the streets for over two years, students occupied college campuses, and millions have denounced the conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism. Across the world, they have refused to be silent accomplices to governments that provided diplomatic and military cover for Israel as the genocide continues.
Now, this national day of action in Spain, following the massive strike actions in Italy, represents a critical leap in the global class struggle. They are not just important gestures of international solidarity; it is the working class consciously wielding its immense power — the power to halt production and stop the flow of capital — not just for its own immediate interests, but in defense of Palestinian lives. It is the depth of this solidarity and popular rage that forced the hand of the major union bureaucracies in Spain to call for the strike in the first place, forced governments across Europe to distance themselves from Israel, and arguably hastened the Trump administration’s rush to broker the ceasefire deal.
The fact that tens of thousands took to the streets across Spain despite the announced ceasefire, and despite the union bureaucracies’ attempts to contain the action, stands as a powerful testament to the movement’s resolve. Indeed, it shows that for many, it is plain that a pause in the killing is not a victory, and their solidarity will not stop as long as Palestinians continue to be oppressed.
Now, as Trump and the imperialist powers celebrate a “peace deal” that is nothing but a colonialist trap — a plan to transform Gaza into an international protectorate and legitimize a new chapter of dispossession — the urgency to deepen the struggle is paramount. The examples set by the workers of Italy and Spain provide a crucial blueprint. It is essential that we build on them, continuing and radicalizing the struggle not only to end the current genocide but to dismantle the entire settler-colonial project and secure a free Palestine, from the river to the sea.