Overview

• Education minister Emilio Viciana has formally asked national minister Pilar Alegría to allow exceptional hiring paths to address what Madrid calls a math teaching emergency.
• The letter seeks temporary permission to teach without the habilitating master’s for certain technical graduates, to rehire retired teachers, and to place third‑year Mathematics and engineering students in classrooms.
• Spain’s Education Ministry cites legal requirements for a university degree and professional habilitation and defends the master’s as a quality safeguard, with an official response still pending.
• Madrid reports no unfilled math posts at the start of term but flags a likely rise in absences from February and a structural shortage extending across Spain and Europe.
• The region is already acting within its powers by adding engineering and science graduates to substitute lists, mandating 10 minutes of daily mental calculation, issuing curricular guides, and expanding CTIF and ISMIE training, as unions and parent groups question the plan’s impact on teaching quality.