Overview
- Medical staff in several regions began or reinforced strikes this week, with Catalonia holding an indefinite walkout and Madrid starting a 72‑hour block that runs from Wednesday, October 28th to October 31st.
- Unions demand bigger teams, a return to a 35‑hour workweek, higher pay and clearer rules and rest guarantees for on‑call duties (guardias), plus measures to cut long waiting lists.
- Regional authorities have issued services‑minima orders to protect emergency, critical and certain oncological care while insisting negotiations follow formal bargaining channels.
- The mobilization is staggered: Canary Islands doctors have been striking since October 16, Andalusia and Castilla‑La Mancha plan major stoppages in mid‑November, and Madrid has scheduled more 72‑hour blocks through December.
- The dispute reflects Spain’s decentralized health system and a paused national Estatuto Marco effort that unions say keeps a nationwide escalation option alive if regional talks do not produce binding labour agreements.