At the Complutense, staff and students reported cuts to teaching groups, academic posts and computer software as the university faced a 35% reduction in spending since mid-2024. The disruption was part of a two-day strike that began on 4 November and was called across Madrid’s six public universities: the Complutense, the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM), the universities of Alcalá, Carlos III and Rey Juan Carlos, and the Polytechnic University of Madrid. A second day of action was scheduled for 5 November. The institutions have about 209,000 students and 32,900 workers, including 22,800 teachers, eligible to take part.
The dispute centres on a funding agreement between the six rectors and Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s regional government, signed in March 2025 to set a funding framework through 2031. The agreement commits about €14.79 billion over six years. It provides an additional €180 million in 2027, bringing the total allocation to €1,420.1 million, up 14.6% on the previous year. Organisers argue the increase starts from a low base: universities received almost the same amount in 2009, before inflation is taken into account. They say the agreement has not addressed a funding shortfall that has built up over roughly 15 years. They also argue that a significant portion of the increase is earmarked or conditional, rather than available for core operating costs.
Groups backing the strike distinguish between the headline allocation and basic funding for payroll and ordinary operations. They calculate that basic funding would rise from €1,166.3 million to €1,224.6 million in 2027, an increase of €58.3 million, or about 5%. They also say €35.4 million of the announced increase would cover previously agreed salary rises, while €92.6 million would consist of earmarked, conditional or temporary funds. Community of Madrid government spokesperson Miguel Ángel García Martín rejected the funding criticism, describing the strike as political and saying financing had reached “historic highs” (translated from Spanish). He cited the €1,420 million allocation and its 14.6% annual increase. The report on the stoppage said the regional government had released no official participation figures.
Union CGT estimated that 95% of staff and students at the Complutense and 90% at the UAM joined the action. At the Carlos III University, it put participation at 80% to 85% in social sciences and humanities classes at the Getafe campus. The Polytechnic University saw a much smaller stoppage. At the UAM, lecturer Luis Lloredo said libraries and most reception desks were closed. He also cited first-year groups of 200 students and fourth-year groups of 140. Organisers said campus pickets were highlighting shortages of funding, personnel and resources, and linked underfunding to the commercialization of public higher education.
The financial strain is particularly acute at the Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC), whose rector, Abraham Duarte, said it needed a €40 million loan to cover the coming months. He expected the university’s income and spending to begin balancing from 2028 as regional funding rose. At the Móstoles campus, student Lucas Sánchez said laboratory materials were lacking and lecturers faced heavy teaching loads. Professor José María Escola Sáez, who did not strike, said he was concerned about the loan and considered the action partisan.
The wider funding gap is also visible in figures cited by university leaders: Madrid’s spending on higher education remains below 0.4% of GDP, compared with a 0.7% national average and close to 1% across Europe. Strike supporters have put regional university funding at about 0.39% of GDP and compared it with a 1% target associated with university-financing legislation. The agreement ended more than two years of strained negotiations, but organisers say it has not resolved the campuses’ financial problems. The dispute follows an earlier university strike on 26 and 27 November 2025. A separate analysis of political accountability has examined how responsibility is debated in Spain.
The URJC was allocated €152.8 million for 2027. Sánchez said that was too little for a university with more than 46,000 students, while CGT reported that classes had been suspended across much of the Carlos III’s Getafe social sciences and humanities campus.
