Good morning, dear readers!
In Spain, people went on a general strike yesterday to demand a roof over their heads. They were not calling only for better wages or working conditions, but for the chance to afford decent housing on what they earn. And they did so just 18 days before the snap parliamentary election on 29 November.
For the first time in 14 years, Spain’s two largest trade unions, UGT and CCOO, called a general strike jointly, with tenant organisations taking part. Factories and ports were affected, while protests were held in dozens of cities.
Housing became a workers’ demand. And social discontent took on an explicitly political dimension.
Spain faces a housing shortfall of about 750,000 homes, according to its central bank. The average asking rent is equivalent to almost all of the average monthly salary of a young worker.
But Greece has an additional reason to follow these developments.
Here, the problem is not limited to finding a home. It also extends to the cost of living in it.
Recent data from ELSTAT, the national statistics agency, are revealing. Inflation reached 5.7% in October. Housing costs rose 15.1%, heating oil 37.5%, electricity 17.9% and rents 6.8%. Natural gas rose by 80%.
All these changes are year on year. Of the 5.7 percentage points of inflation, 2.2 came from housing. That is almost 39% of the total increase.
We are not talking about luxuries. We are talking about basic needs. A home, heating and electricity.
All this is happening while, according to the 2021 census, about 794,000 homes were recorded as vacant, including more than 250,000 in Attica.
Not all are habitable. Nor are they all where demand exists. But they represent a huge potential supply at a time when thousands of households are struggling to find affordable housing.
The government is trying to bring some of this supply into use through schemes such as “Renovate – Rent”. It is a step in the right direction. But the results raise questions.
In August 2025, the scheme had 6,176 approved applications. By September 2026, the figure had fallen to 3,017, with reported budget absorption of 51.48%. The ministry responsible has acknowledged that some approvals were revoked.
And most importantly? The figures do not say how many homes were renovated or how many were ultimately rented out. Because applications, approvals and homes returning to the market are all different things.
How many homes were renovated? How many were rented? And how much did these measures ease pressure on rents? That is the real scorecard for housing policy.
Of course, Greece is not Spain. Nor does every economic hardship automatically lead to protests. But the Spanish experience highlights something that is often underestimated: when work does not provide a decent standard of living, discontent is no longer solely about wages.
It is about whether workers can live independently, start a family and plan for the future. At that point, the problem is no longer merely economic. It becomes social and inevitably political.
The Greek government can point to wage rises, tax relief and benefits. These measures matter. But the question remains: What is left in people’s pockets after they have paid the rent, electricity, heating and supermarket bills?
Politicians may promise better days. But people first have to pay today’s bills. And when election day comes, that bill is not easily forgotten.