Madrid’s teachers began an indefinite strike with weaker union backing than peers in Catalonia and the Valencian Community. Each full day off costs about €80 to €150 in lost pay.
Madrid’s open-ended teachers’ strike began on 14 October, with turnout figures already disputed by unions and the regional government.
CCOO and UGT called the action. STEM and CGT joined them, as did CNT and Solidaridad Obrera. The Educación Especial Digna and Menos Lectivas platforms also backed the strike, along with Queremos FP. Around 65,000 teachers in non-university education were called to take part, working with more than 666,000 pupils. For the first three days, unions put participation between 60% and 70%. The regional education department reported figures ranging from 26.7% to 44.6%. CSIF, running a separate action, reported 58.5% on the first day and 45% on the second. The turnout dispute also appeared in earlier Madrid coverage; the reported ranges remain far apart.
Union backing is another point of difference. In the Valencian Community, five major unions supported the strike and had won almost all votes in the latest union elections. Catalonia began with similar support, but CC OO and UGT later broke ranks and signed an agreement with the Generalitat. Unions behind the second phase of Catalan strikes represented 71% of votes.
In Madrid, the unions calling the indefinite strike account for 47% of votes. Add CSIF, which called a parallel full-day stoppage from 14 to 16 October and partial strikes on subsequent days, and the share rises to 64%. ANPE, the region’s second most-voted teachers’ union after CC OO, does not support the strike. Separate schedules have also produced different participation estimates. On the second day, unions reported between 62% and 72%; the regional government put participation in schools and secondary institutes at 32.2%. CSIF reported 45%, or nearly 31,000 teachers.
The format matters too. Madrid’s full-day action resembles the Valencian strike, which lasted 24 consecutive days. Catalonia held six strike days across the whole region, then 16 more on a rotating basis between counties. Teachers there added street pressure through 25 demonstrations and repeated road blockades that could last for hours.
Madrid’s first strike day brought a demonstration outside the education department and traffic disruptions in central areas, including Cibeles. CCOO estimated that about 10,000 people joined the street protest.
Agreements have been reached in Catalonia and the Valencian Community, but neither settled every dispute. The Generalitat in Catalonia agreed to a €400 monthly pay rise over four years and to add 6,413 teachers by 2030. USTEC, the largest union with 35% of the vote, later withdrew after teachers rejected the preliminary deal in an online consultation. In the Valencian Community, ANPE and CSIF signed a €200 monthly increase over three years. Unions say they will resume protests if the Generalitat does not return to negotiations.
Madrid’s regional government says it is willing to hear teachers’ demands, while describing the strike as politically motivated and incomprehensible. Education minister Mercedes Zarzalejo said the protest had political and electoral aims. On the first day, six demonstrators were injured during a police charge against a picket at Universidad Complutense. In Valencia, a retired teacher was injured when a police officer threw her to the ground.
Pay is only part of the dispute. Madrid teachers are seeking €600 more a month and want weekly teaching hours cut to 22 in schools and 17 in secondary schools. They currently teach 25 and 19 hours, respectively. In Catalonia, the figures are 23 and 18 hours. The Valencian Community also has figures of 23 and 18. The Madrid unions want smaller classes and more specialist staff. They are also calling for less bureaucracy, improved school infrastructure and measures against socioeconomic segregation.
Public education accounts for 53.2% of pre-university students in Madrid. The share is 64.5% in Catalonia and 68.1% in the Valencian Community; across Spain, it is 66.7%. Madrid’s unions also want lower class ratios and more staff to support pupils with growing needs. They are seeking improvements to school buildings, including climate control.
Aida San Millán, CC OO’s education lead in Madrid, says the region’s high living costs helped drive the strike. A secondary-school headteacher says those same costs can make it difficult to sustain high participation.
By the third day, CCOO put participation at 60%, while the regional government reported 26.7%. As of 16 October, the strike had no announced end date. Organisers planned further meetings and decentralised actions, a gathering outside the education department on 19 October, a march from Atocha to the department on 22 October, and a general assembly on 23 October to discuss the campaign’s next steps.
Each full day off costs teachers roughly €80 to €150 in lost pay, making Madrid’s stoppage harder to sustain financially than Catalonia’s rotating action.
