Overview
- The teaching staff of Madrid’s public schools launched an open-ended strike on Thursday, October 15, closing schools and staging large marches that blocked central avenues and cut access to the regional Education Ministry.
- Unions set clear demands for reduced weekly teaching hours, sharp cuts to class sizes, higher pay, less bureaucracy and improved school infrastructure as the basis for any negotiated settlement.
- Participation figures are contested: unions reported about 72% adherence, the regional Consejería of Education gave a 32.2% follow-up in schools, and the Government Delegate estimated roughly 10,000 people in demonstrations.
- Clashes at the Complutense university led to five detainees and two police officers with minor injuries, prompting the Government Delegate to request an urgent investigation into the police interventions.
- Valencian unions warned they will resume mobilizations unless talks produce funded commitments, have called an open assembly on October 20 and a meeting with Education Minister Carmen Ortí on October 21, and urged teachers to join a national general strike on November 11.