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\n 25\/05\/2025 – 19:58 GMT+2<\/p>\n
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The demonstration, organised under the slogan ‘Let’s save our public health’<\/strong>, highlighted the growing public unease over what they see as the privatisation and dismantling of Madrid’s public health system.<\/p>\n Organised by the platform ‘Vecinas y vecinos de los barrios y pueblos de la Comunidad de Madrid’<\/strong>, the protest started simultaneously from four strategic points in the capital. <\/p>\n This mass mobilisation reflects the widespread concern about the current state of public healthcare in the city<\/strong> and the policies implemented by the regional government.<\/p>\n Demonstrators criticised the “unbearable delays in primary care”<\/strong> and the shortage of staff. <\/p>\n The manifesto read during the rally denounced the existence of a million people on waiting lists<\/strong> and “tens of thousands of children without a paediatrician assigned to them” in what is Spain’s richest region.<\/p>\n Ricardo Chac\u00f3n, representative of the organising platform, said the privatisation of health<\/strong> was “not working” and that it was in private economic interests rather than for the benefit of patients. <\/p>\n Luis L\u00f3pez, another spokesperson for the group, called for a significant increase in the regional health budget, demanding that at least 25%<\/strong> be earmarked for strengthening primary care.<\/p>\n The organisers emphasised the importance of preventive healthcare<\/strong> as a more economical and effective strategy than focusing resources solely on curative treatments. <\/p>\n This perspective seeks a paradigm shift in health management in Madrid, prioritising the accessibility and quality of primary health care.<\/p>\n Political positioning and controversies surrounding Madrid’s healthcare system<\/p>\n The demonstration had a notable representation of left-wing parties<\/strong> and trade unions supporting citizens’ demands. Reyes Maroto, Socialist spokesperson in the Madrid City Council, urged support for the “thousands of people who are waiting for a medical appointment” and do not have private insurance as an alternative.<\/p>\n Manuela Bergerot<\/strong>, from M\u00e1s Madrid, offered concrete data on the regional health crisis: 139,000 children without a paediatrician assigned to them<\/strong> and 625,000 patients without a family doctor<\/strong>. <\/p>\n The political leader directly linked this situation to privatisation policies, specifically denouncing the relationship between the Quir\u00f3n Group<\/strong> and the personal entourage of the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel D\u00edaz Ayuso.<\/p>\n MEP Irene Montero<\/strong> (Podemos party) added an ethical dimension to the debate, saying that without universal access to quality public healthcare “there is no democracy and no dignity of life”. <\/p>\n Montero also referred to controversy over the Quir\u00f3n Group’s contracts with Ayuso’s partner, alleging an increase in payments and privatisations coinciding with this personal relationship.<\/p>\n The mobilisation of citizens in defence of Madrid’s public health<\/strong> system is evidence of a growing political polarisation around regional health management. While the demonstrators demand a reversal of privatisation policies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published on 25\/05\/2025 – 19:58 GMT+2 ADVERTISEMENT The demonstration, organised under the slogan ‘Let’s save our public health’,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4316],"tags":[105,4348,5479,18744,33791,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-131526","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-madrid","11":"tag-protest","12":"tag-protesters","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114570374887749429","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}