Spanish police and Guardia Civil unions begin indefinite sit-in at Interior Ministry

The sit-in begins

Representatives of several police unions and Guardia Civil associations started an open-ended sit-in on the afternoon of Tuesday, 27 October 2026, at the Madrid office of the Secretary of State for Security (SES), across from the Interior Ministry. El País counted about 25 representatives from nine organisations. The unions called the action peaceful and indefinite, and urged other officers stationed in Madrid to join it in a peaceful and respectful manner. In their joint statement they described the protest as the first of its kind in their history.

Talks collapse

According to the unions, they had been holding meetings and receiving promises from the ministry for almost a year without concrete results. On Tuesday they were called to a meeting with the Secretary of State for Security, Aina Calvo, which they hoped would bring an agreement closer. The session lasted about half an hour before the ministry announced that dialogue was suspended and that the unilateral working table was being dissolved. The unions said officials pointed to the difficulty of reaching an agreement before the general elections called for 29 November. ABC notes that the department is run by Fernando Grande-Marlaska.

What was on the table

After a technical table meeting on 23 September 2026, the unions said talks were moving at a good pace because the SES had accepted changes they considered significant. The proposals, as the unions described them, would raise retirement benefits for Group C1 to roughly 39,000 euros and give Group A2 the maximum pension under both the General Social Security Regime and Passive Classes. Their broader demands include recognition of the work as a risk profession. They also wanted any agreement to carry legal backing ahead of the vote so that it would not depend on the political will of the next government.

Which organisations joined

On the police side, Jupol, the Sindicato Unificado de Policía (SUP) and the Unión Federal de Policía (UFP) backed the sit-in. On the Guardia Civil side, the Asociación Unificada de Guardias Civiles (AUGC), Justicia para la Guardia Civil (Jucil), the Asociación de Escala de Suboficiales de la Guardia Civil (ASESGC), the Asociación Española de Guardias Civiles (AEGC) and other associations took part. El País reports that three police unions stayed out of the action. The unions have not given an end date for the sit-in.