Spanish doctors strike regionally after national walkout is postponed by early election

A national strike put on hold

Doctors' unions had called the first indefinite national strike of doctors in more than 30 years for Wednesday, 28 October, to protest the Estatuto Marco, the state law that sets common working conditions for statutory health staff. The walkout was postponed after the government called an early election. The strike committee said the conflict remains open, and several unions warned that mobilisation could return if the next government does not meet the profession's demands. Because the Estatuto Marco is a state law, its reform rests with the central government and the Cortes, while the regions run their own health services and manage their staff.

Regional strikes and the map of conflict

Doctors in Madrid, Catalonia and the Valencian Community begin regional stoppages on Wednesday, 28 October. In Madrid the action is split into four blocks of three days, with the first running from 28 to 30 October and a march to the Congress of Deputies on the first day. eldiario gives the final block as 9 to 11 December, while El Periódico gives 12 December as the end date, so the closing date differs between the two outlets. Metges de Catalunya has called an indefinite strike from the same day for public and contracted health services, with a demonstration planned in Barcelona. In the Valencian Community the Avanza union has called an indefinite stoppage over pending demands that fall directly within the Conselleria de Sanidad's competence, according to its general secretary Juan Soliveres. Canary Islands doctors struck from 16 to 26 October, the Sindicato Médico Andaluz has called an indefinite strike from 13 November, and Castilla-La Mancha doctors join from 16 November.

El Confidencial and eldiario count five regions keeping their own calls, while El Periódico counts six by including Castilla-La Mancha. eldiario puts the population affected in the four most populous regions and the Canaries at about 32 million people. Asturias, the Basque Country and Galicia have already reached agreements with their doctors' representatives, which eldiario cites as proof that regions can improve conditions without waiting for Madrid.

Competences and the regional split

Juan José Bestard Perelló, a lawyer specialising in health law, told El Confidencial that regions can change pay supplements, working hours, rest periods and career progression through their own instruments. He added that regions cannot change the base salary or triennial pay of statutory staff on their own. Ángela Hernández, general secretary of AMYTS in Madrid, said ending the strike at regional level is 'relatively simple' and argued that Madrid's requests put it well apart from other regions. Her case rests on a split of roles in which the Ministry sets the regulatory framework and the collective agreement, while the regions apply it and can pay above it.

“The competencies are shared: the Ministry decides the regulatory framework and the collective agreement, and the community applies it, but nothing prevents it from paying above that.”

Demands and official replies

Madrid's unions want a 35-hour working week, an end to mandatory 24-hour guards and a dedicated negotiating table with the regional government led by Isabel Díaz Ayuso. Most of these demands repeat those raised with the Ministry of Health, and the unions had asked for the resignation of Minister Mónica García. Miguel Ángel García Martín, the regional councillor for the Presidency, accused the Madrid organisers in October of a 'political strike' built on a slogan from the left and far left, according to eldiario. AMYTS says the regional department has not received its representatives since early summer. In Catalonia, the Health Department called the doctors' demands 'legitimate' but said the strike is statewide and was not triggered by any Generalitat decision or cut in rights. It cited agreements that raised staffing by 15.67% over five years, reduced the working year to 1,642 hours in many cases, and raised guard pay by 25% to 30%.

“A parallel labour negotiation cannot be opened alongside a strike while a collective agreement is under negotiation.”

The department said labour matters belong in collective agreements and the sectoral table of the Institut Català de Salut, and that its dialogue table, which met six times in 2025, cannot replace the legal negotiation of pay and hours.