Madrid’s education strike reached a fifth day as teachers returned to the streets after police action at a protest on Monday. The region spends €6,502 per non-university pupil, the lowest figure in Spain, according to cited data.
At one Madrid secondary school, a collapsed gym roof and asbestos have pushed physical education classes into the courtyard, where noise disrupts lessons. A teacher taking part in the regional education strike described the conditions on its fifth day, Tuesday 20 October. The indefinite walkout involves CCOO, UGT, CGT, CNT, STEM and Solidaridad Obrera, alongside the platforms Educación Especial Digna, Menos Lectivas and Queremos FP.
The latest demonstration followed police action against a protest outside the Madrid Chamber of Commerce on Monday 19 October. Organisers said officers used excessive force while creating a security cordon for Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the president of the Community of Madrid, and reported injuries. The strike committee demanded an investigation by the government delegation in Madrid into what it called disproportionate police action. Teachers called an urgent protest after the incident; the regional government had not agreed to negotiate with the strike committee. Education minister Mercedes Zarzalejo declined to meet the committee, while Ayuso described the strike as politically motivated.
The funding figures are central to the dispute. Madrid spent €6,502 per non-university pupil, the lowest amount among Spain’s regions, according to the 2026 State System of Education Indicators. The national average was €7,943. Euskadi spent €12,484 per pupil; Navarra’s figure was €9,991.
The gap stands out alongside Madrid’s economic figures. The region had Spain’s highest GDP, with €47,220 per resident in 2025, according to the INE data cited in the article. The unions are pressing for increased education investment and changes to teaching hours and class sizes, as well as improved support for pupils with diverse needs. Their demands include limiting teaching hours to 17 periods a week in secondary schools and vocational education, and 22 in primary schools. They also seek class-size caps of 20 pupils in secondary schools and 15 in primary schools, plus a €600 monthly increase in the regional supplement.
Segregation is another central concern. A CCOO study gives Madrid an index of 0.42, the highest in Spain; Melilla follows at 0.38. Catalunya records 0.37 and Asturias 0.34. Betty de Lara García of CNT says pupils facing learning difficulties can be placed in classes without the additional support she considers necessary. She also describes staff spending much of their time on social support, including collecting money for pupils’ basic needs.
Teachers link the divide to school policies, including the single-area admissions model and bilingual education. Lara García says some pupils can access private tuition and other resources, while others arrive with several years of curricular delay. The unions want measures to promote equity, restore welcome classrooms and change the current bilingual model. Earlier messages among the Sindicato de Estudiantes discussed escalating the Madrid education protests, as an earlier report detailed.
Pay is also on the agenda. CCOO’s comparison found that, after accounting for regional living costs, a secondary-school teacher in Madrid without seniority was at a 28.4% disadvantage compared with one in Euskadi. The reported gap for primary teachers was 26.8%. The unions are seeking a €600 monthly increase in the regional supplement, alongside pay adjustments for vocational training staff and other groups. CSIF has separately called for a capitality allowance to reflect the high cost of living in the region, as well as more teachers and less bureaucracy.
At the school described by Jessica Belda Peiró of CGT, the gym remains unusable after its roof collapsed and asbestos was found. Physical education classes take place in the courtyard beside teaching rooms. The strike’s demands also include asbestos removal, classroom climate control and a full-time administrative assistant at every school.
The strike remained indefinite on 20 October, with no end date announced. CSIF scheduled separate partial stoppages for 20, 22, 26 and 30 October and called for an urgent meeting of the official education sector negotiating body, the Mesa Sectorial de Educación. For the previous day, unions estimated strike participation at about 50%, while the regional government put it at 13.2%, figures reported by La Vanguardia. Demonstrations and marches also disrupted traffic, including reports of a blockade on the A-3.
