{"id":181880,"date":"2025-06-13T19:36:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T19:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/181880\/"},"modified":"2025-06-13T19:36:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T19:36:12","slug":"medical-operations-halted-across-spain-as-doctors-strike-over-regime-of-slavery-from-50-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/181880\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical operations halted across Spain as doctors strike over ‘regime of slavery from 50 years ago’"},"content":{"rendered":"

SPANISH doctors downed tools today \u2013 the first nationwide strike in five years \u2013 as medics across the country protested what they describe as \u2018precarious working conditions.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Protesters in the Canary Islands carried banners reading \u2018Exploited doctor, mistreated patient\u2019 and \u2018Deficient staffing, risk to patients.\u2019<\/p>\n

At the heart of the dispute is the government\u2019s proposed framework regulating working conditions for health service staff.<\/p>\n

The medical unions argue it fails to recognise the unique nature of medical work and perpetuates poor conditions that have persisted for decades.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Summer to be \u2018warmer than normal\u2019 in Spain after fifth-wettest spring since 1961<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"Doctors and medical professionals protesting in Tenerife. Picture: Medicos Tenerife<\/p>\n

Carmen Truyols, an anaesthesiology specialist at a Madrid public hospital, delivered a damning assessment of current working conditions during protests outside the Spanish parliament.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue in conditions not just from 2003, but from more than 50 years ago,\u201d she told demonstrators, adding that doctors are working in what amounts to a \u2018regime of slavery.\u2019<\/p>\n

The strike led to the suspension of all non-urgent surgical operations across participating hospitals, with emergency services maintained to ensure patient safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One doctor at Vigo\u2019s \u00c1lvaro Cunqueiro hospital confirmed that \u2018all surgical interventions have been suspended except emergencies,\u2019 with similar situations reported at medical centres nationwide.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Spain\u2019s PM Pedro Sanchez apologises for latest corruption scandal but won\u2019t call early elections<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"Protestors in Zaragoza. Picture CSEM Sindicato<\/p>\n

The strike saw varying levels of support across Spain\u2019s regions, with some areas reporting participation rates as high as 95% whilst others recorded much lower figures.<\/p>\n

In the Valencia region, strike organisers claimed between 80 and 100% participation depending on the province, with Castell\u00f3n seeing 90 % support, Alicante between 95 and 100%, and Valencia around 80%. The Balearic Islands reported \u2018massive\u2019 support with hospital participation reaching 85-90%.<\/p>\n

However, the Basque Country saw significantly lower participation, with just under 10% of doctors in the Osakidetza health service joining the action.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The local medical union there said the call to strike had arrived \u2018too late\u2019 for proper organisation.<\/p>\n

Doctors are particularly angry about proposed mandatory exclusivity requirements for specialists in their first five years of public service, as well as for department heads and coordinators.\u00a0<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Carrefour to open 100 new stores in Spain during 2025, creating 700 jobs<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"Protests in Ciudad Real. Picture: CSEM Sindicatos<\/p>\n

They argue this creates a professional classification system that \u2018equates them with other graduates, devaluing the specific training and responsibility of their profession.\u2019<\/p>\n

The medical profession is also frustrated by the omission of any reference to retirement regulation or the counting of on-call hours for pension purposes, issues that have been longstanding concerns for overworked hospital staff.<\/p>\n

Health Minister M\u00f3nica Garc\u00eda has defended the proposed statute, claiming it \u2018will respond to the needs of professionals\u2019 whilst keeping dialogue open with all unions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, the strength of yesterday\u2019s action suggests significant opposition remains within the medical community.<\/p>\n

The dispute has broader backing beyond the striking unions, with support from the Medical Profession Forum, which brings together major sector organisations including the General Council of Official Medical Colleges and the Spanish Federation of Medical Scientific Associations.<\/p>\n

For Spain\u2019s foreign residents who rely on the public health system, the strike highlights ongoing pressures within Spanish healthcare that could affect service quality and availability.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The medical unions are demanding not just better working conditions but also reduced weekly hours, better work-life balance, and proper recognition of the demanding nature of medical work.<\/p>\n

The last national doctors\u2019 strike took place five years ago, making yesterday\u2019s action a significant escalation in the ongoing dispute over healthcare working conditions in Spain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SPANISH doctors downed tools today \u2013 the first nationwide strike in five years \u2013 as medics across the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181881,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[2000,299,18104,8626,104,18106],"class_list":{"0":"post-181880","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-news-spain","11":"tag-newspaper","12":"tag-spain","13":"tag-the-olive-press"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114677742640957839","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181880","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=181880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}