Chaos in Madrid: Police and protesters clash in Spanish capital

Police scuffled with protesters in Madrid in a violent turn during a general strike in Spain.

Officers in riot gear beat protesters with batons and pinned one protester to the ground as they detained him. Police vehicles were deployed to clear the streets of Gran Via boulevard which protesters were blocking.

Spanish workers went on a general strike on Wednesday, enduring stormy weather to set up picket lines in a mass protest against the country's housing affordability crisis less than three weeks before a snap general election.

The walkout is backed by Spain's two largest unions, UGT and CCOO, representing more than a million workers, as well as tenants' associations angry about rising rents and evictions.

The CCOO union said on X that police fired pepper spray at pickets at Madrid's Mercamadrid wholesale market and arrested one of them, with 13 people requiring medical attention.

A police spokesperson confirmed the arrest but not the use of pepper spray, although he said it was used to disperse a separate picket line in the Carabanchel district.

Unions said they would file a criminal complaint against what they described as a “disproportionate” response during a police operation involving tear gas and batons that left 20 protesters injured.

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