The conflict over higher education funding is intensifying in Andalusia: on Wednesday, mass demonstrations were held in five major cities in the region — Seville, Jaén, Malaga, Granada, and Cadiz — demanding increased budgetary support for public universities. Organizers from the network ‘Universidades Andaluzas por la Pública’ insist on the immediate allocation of 1% of the regional GDP for university needs and oppose what they consider the authorities’ ‘mercantile policy,’ which leads to reduced public university places and a growing influence of private institutions.
Accusations against the authorities
According to the movement’s participants, the regional government is deliberately creating conditions for the expansion of the private sector: this refers to the allocation of land for new campuses and permits for launching in-demand degree programs that were previously unavailable at public universities. The situation with programs in artificial intelligence and biomedical engineering is given as an example: despite a negative assessment from the specialist agency Accua for the universities of Granada and Jaén, these programs were approved for the private university Loyola. Later, the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities supported the public institutions, but the conflict remains unresolved.
Representatives of the university community note that tuition fees at private universities are several times higher, and the reduction in state-funded places forces families to take out loans or forgo higher education. Additionally, a lack of funding leads to teachers moving to the private sector, where working conditions are often worse, which affects the quality of education. A group of 28 professors from the University of Seville has sent an appeal to the rector demanding the unblocking of career advancement and the publication of a schedule for new hiring competitions.
Demands and Consequences
Among the main demands of the protesters are not only increased funding, but almost full compensation for student tuition fees, free issuance of language certificates, and the exclusion of private entities from the Council for the Coordination of Universities of Andalusia. According to activists, allocating 1% of GDP would increase the university budget by about 450 million euros. The regional authorities, for their part, consider the funding distribution scheme approved for 2026—1.825 billion euros, of which 1.669 billion is allocated to salaries and maintenance—”balanced and sustainable.”
A Special Situation in Jaén
The situation is most acute at the University of Jaén. Its rector, Nicolás Ruiz, was the only one to abstain when voting on the new funding model. University management and unions warn of a risk of unpaid salaries and job cuts: according to their data, the region has not compensated nearly 40 million euros owed to universities for 2025, of which 2.5 million is Jaén’s share. In addition, for the second year in a row, the university has received no funds from the special equalization fund created to address imbalances between universities. The administration fears that delays in auditing personnel expenses will lead to uncertainty over payments until the end of the year.
The unions at the University of Jaén report increased workloads for teaching staff and the threat of cuts to research projects. They estimate that if the situation does not change, future layoffs and failure to fill vacancies after retirements could result in decreased education quality and a weakened research foundation. In a statement, the union committee described current measures as “the largest internal cuts in recent years,” and the staff is demanding meaningful negotiations with management.
Context and comparisons
Issues of education funding and protests within the university sector are becoming increasingly relevant for Spain. Similar conflicts have already led to mass demonstrations and threats of job cuts in other regions of the country, as was the case in Catalonia, where summer camps are at risk due to teacher boycotts. Experts note that sustainable funding and transparent rules for allocating resources are becoming key to maintaining accessibility to education and stability in the sector.
