On 2 November, Sindicato Médicos Unidos (SMU) announced a national and autonomous-community doctors’ strike for 16 to 27 November 2026, a 12-calendar-day action running from Monday through Friday. The union says doctors need a separate negotiating forum because their professional conditions risk being absorbed into a common framework with other staff groups. It has called the strike to press for a national statute governing the profession.
The proposed statute would establish a common baseline for doctors across Spain. The SMU says it should cover doctors’ pay and working hours, alongside rest periods that protect continuity of care. It also wants provisions for continuing training and a framework for career progression, with retirement included. The union wants all medical hours to receive appropriate compensation and says the profession has lost purchasing power. Its demand for a distinct statute and an exclusive negotiating forum comes amid wider debate over Spain’s general Estatuto Marco.
The SMU is asking the Government for extraordinary, specific funding earmarked for the changes. It says a rigorous economic assessment is needed before reforms can deliver practical improvements. Funding would support larger staffing levels and a redesigned on-call system. It should also provide appropriate pay for all medical hours and help restore lost purchasing power, the union says.
Regional administrations, meanwhile, are being asked to establish negotiating tables specifically for doctors. The union wants a 35-hour working week introduced in territories where it has not yet been achieved. It also calls for enough staff to meet care needs without relying systematically on doctors taking on excessive workloads.
The union says a general election and a caretaker Government should not delay a response. A general election is scheduled for 29 November 2026, following Parliament’s dissolution and the lapse of a draft reform of the Estatuto Marco. RussSpain reported that national medical unions had suspended an indefinite strike planned for 28 October and redirected pressure toward political parties after losing an immediate legislative interlocutor. The SMU considers the health and labour ministries valid institutional interlocutors within the powers they retain during this period. Regional administrations, it says, remain able to negotiate and take measures in areas under their responsibility.
The strike is intended to secure concrete commitments and open what the union describes as effective negotiations. The SMU has called on central and regional administrations to begin talks and respond to doctors’ demands.
