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Doctors Across Spain Launch Five-Day Strike Starting Monday

Unions frame the walkout as a push for a dedicated medical statute with direct bargaining rights.

Overview

  • Medical unions will resume a nationwide strike from Monday to Friday, marking the fourth week of action this year.
  • Hospitals expect to postpone specialist visits, diagnostic tests, and planned surgeries as minimum services focus on urgent care, with impact varying by region.
  • The core demand is a profession-specific statute and a separate talks table with the Health Ministry, alongside changes to 24-hour shifts, staffing levels, and workload limits reported by union groups.
  • In Galicia, Simega urged Sergas doctors to join and criticized Health Minister Mónica García, while pressing the regional service to honor pending agreements; those claims reflect the union’s position.
  • Because Spain’s health system is run by regional services under a national ministry, disruption and negotiations will differ by community, with examples in Cantabria’s Valdecilla, Sierrallana, and Laredo hospitals and a Catalonia strike day set for May 20.