Millions of Spain's workers are striking Wednesday to demand that the government remedy the nation's housing crisis less than three weeks before a national election that could catapult the far right to power.

Spain's first general strike in 14 years is expected to cause delays to the widely used public transport system and lead to the slowdown or shuttering of businesses, factories and shops across the eurozone's fourth largest economy.

Minor incidents were reported in the first hours, including roadblocks - some of them with burning tires - in Barcelona, the second-largest city in the country, and scuffles between picketers and police near the country's main wholesale market on the outskirts of the capital, Madrid.