UGT calls general strike over housing while its former Madrid HQ becomes a luxury hotel
Spain's UGT union has called a general strike for November 11 over housing, while its former headquarters on Hortaleza street is being converted into a 42-room luxury hotel.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
UGT has called a 24-hour general strike for November 11 to demand wages that allow workers to afford decent housing, while its former headquarters at 88 Hortaleza street in Madrid is being turned into a high-end hotel with 42 rooms at an average price of around 600 euros a night.
The paradox is striking. The union led by Pepe Álvarez has made the housing crisis its main rallying cry ahead of the snap elections on November 29. The message is clear: wages must be enough to pay for a roof. The chosen date, November 11, and the format, a 24-hour general strike called together with CCOO, trinc the usual script of any union mobilization.
## A 17th-century convent converted into a luxury hotel
The problem appears when you walk through the Chueca neighborhood. At 88 Hortaleza street, UGT's former headquarters is under construction. The project is being driven by the **Pulitzer Hoteles** chain and includes **42 rooms** with an average price of around **600 euros a night**. The building is a former 17th-century convent known as the Convent of the Recogidas de Santa María Magdalena, protected for its heritage value. UGT bought it to house its offices and, after moving to its current headquarters on Avenida de América, chose to lease it to a company that will carry out the renovation and run the hotel.
The contract is long-term. It will allow the union to earn income from its property without bearing the cost of the works, budgeted at around **ten million euros**. The deal makes accounting sense: a property in central Madrid generates recurring income with no need for its own investment. The awkward question is whether that logic fits the message the union delivers from the podium.
## The 2022 squatting and the origin of the conflict
The building's history has a twist worth knowing. In **2022**, three far-left organizations, including the **Sindicato de Inquilinas** (Tenants' Union), squatted the building for a day. They did so precisely to try to halt the hotel project. They hung a banner reading «Nos ponemos chulas contra la especulación» (roughly, «We get sassy against speculation») and called the deal a windfall profiteering scheme, arguing the land had a social purpose. Police identified **25 people**, though no one was arrested. The hotel plan was finally revived in **2025** and is the one now under way.
There is a detail that adds spice to the story: the Sindicato de Inquilinas is one of the organizations with which UGT is now negotiating the date and conditions of the general strike. In other words, those who squatted the building to stop the hotel are today the union's partners in the mobilization call. That's politics for you.
## Social housing versus luxury tourism in central Madrid
The underlying debate is no small matter. The left to the left of the PSOE, such as **Más Madrid**, has long denounced the gentrification of the city center. Its argument is that devoting buildings to luxury tourism drives residents out of their neighborhoods and reduces the available housing supply. The Hortaleza street project fits that pattern: a building that could have had a social use is becoming high-end accommodation.
UGT maintains that wages should cover basic needs and demands that public authorities and companies take responsibility for the surge in prices. The contradiction does not automatically invalidate that demand, but it does raise a question about the gap between the rhetoric and the management of the union's own assets. Housing has become one of residents' main concerns in Madrid, and the union has placed the issue at the center of its strategy. Consistency, in these cases, is measured in deeds, not in banners.
None of the above makes the deal illegal or irregular. It is a legitimate property decision by an organization managing its assets like any other. But when a general strike is called over housing, it is worth knowing that the premises from which the demand is made will have a room at **600 euros** a night. Draw your own conclusions.
The paradox is striking. The union led by Pepe Álvarez has made the housing crisis its main rallying cry ahead of the snap elections on November 29. The message is clear: wages must be enough to pay for a roof. The chosen date, November 11, and the format, a 24-hour general strike called together with CCOO, trinc the usual script of any union mobilization.
## A 17th-century convent converted into a luxury hotel
The problem appears when you walk through the Chueca neighborhood. At 88 Hortaleza street, UGT's former headquarters is under construction. The project is being driven by the **Pulitzer Hoteles** chain and includes **42 rooms** with an average price of around **600 euros a night**. The building is a former 17th-century convent known as the Convent of the Recogidas de Santa María Magdalena, protected for its heritage value. UGT bought it to house its offices and, after moving to its current headquarters on Avenida de América, chose to lease it to a company that will carry out the renovation and run the hotel.
The contract is long-term. It will allow the union to earn income from its property without bearing the cost of the works, budgeted at around **ten million euros**. The deal makes accounting sense: a property in central Madrid generates recurring income with no need for its own investment. The awkward question is whether that logic fits the message the union delivers from the podium.
## The 2022 squatting and the origin of the conflict
The building's history has a twist worth knowing. In **2022**, three far-left organizations, including the **Sindicato de Inquilinas** (Tenants' Union), squatted the building for a day. They did so precisely to try to halt the hotel project. They hung a banner reading «Nos ponemos chulas contra la especulación» (roughly, «We get sassy against speculation») and called the deal a windfall profiteering scheme, arguing the land had a social purpose. Police identified **25 people**, though no one was arrested. The hotel plan was finally revived in **2025** and is the one now under way.
There is a detail that adds spice to the story: the Sindicato de Inquilinas is one of the organizations with which UGT is now negotiating the date and conditions of the general strike. In other words, those who squatted the building to stop the hotel are today the union's partners in the mobilization call. That's politics for you.
## Social housing versus luxury tourism in central Madrid
The underlying debate is no small matter. The left to the left of the PSOE, such as **Más Madrid**, has long denounced the gentrification of the city center. Its argument is that devoting buildings to luxury tourism drives residents out of their neighborhoods and reduces the available housing supply. The Hortaleza street project fits that pattern: a building that could have had a social use is becoming high-end accommodation.
UGT maintains that wages should cover basic needs and demands that public authorities and companies take responsibility for the surge in prices. The contradiction does not automatically invalidate that demand, but it does raise a question about the gap between the rhetoric and the management of the union's own assets. Housing has become one of residents' main concerns in Madrid, and the union has placed the issue at the center of its strategy. Consistency, in these cases, is measured in deeds, not in banners.
None of the above makes the deal illegal or irregular. It is a legitimate property decision by an organization managing its assets like any other. But when a general strike is called over housing, it is worth knowing that the premises from which the demand is made will have a room at **600 euros** a night. Draw your own conclusions.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (7 replies).
More summaries
-
Spanish Unions UGT and CCOO Discuss General Strike for Housing
Major Spanish unions UGT and CCOO meet to decide on a general strike focused on housing, following months of tension over rental prices.
-
Unions threaten general strike if housing decrees fall
Unions are considering a general strike if the right votes down the housing decrees, targeting PP and Vox rather than the government that signed them.
-
General strike without government: unions target November
CCOO and UGT call for a 24-hour general strike in Spain this autumn over housing. The CEOE questions its legal basis, marking the first such action since 2012.
-
Partner of PSOE spokesperson holds 30 properties and two Panamanian companies
The PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) spokesperson, Montse Mínguez, and her partner reportedly own 30 rental properties and two companies in Panama.
-
Mr Pool posted this image 5 years ago
A user verifies that Mr Pool's post is real and shares it as an example of absurdity. Find out what it said and why it is being shared now.
-
ISIS Threatens Spain with Spanish-Language Propaganda Push
The terrorist group is spreading videos and audio recordings in Spanish aimed at Spain and Latin America, according to a report by Europa.com. Here is what it means.