The 2025-2026 school year in Catalonia closed with union negotiations at a standstill. The main teachers’ union rejected a last-minute deal, leaving the sector without clear leadership. Three possible scenarios now shape the future of education reforms.
The end of the 2025-2026 academic year in Catalonia has left the region’s education sector in a state of uncertainty. On May 29, a last-minute agreement between Education Minister Esther Niubó and the leading teachers’ union Ustec was rejected by the union’s own members, undermining the traditional strategy of strike-driven negotiations. This rejection has exposed deep divisions within the union and cast doubt on its ability to lead future talks.
With the school year officially over as of June 19, the usual summer pause has begun. The familiar yellow T-shirts of protest are back in storage, and no further strikes are expected until September. However, the failure of the classic negotiation model has forced stakeholders to consider new approaches. The widespread dissatisfaction that led to the rejection of the May agreement appears unlikely to be resolved through standard bargaining between the Department of Education and sector unions.
Three potential scenarios now emerge for Catalonia’s education system. First, the yellow T-shirt movement could fade away, much like the similarly colored ‘chalecos amarillos’ protests in France, which once channeled broad social discontent but have since lost momentum. Second, after the summer break, most teachers might accept the existing agreement as the best available option, following the example of the secondary teachers’ union. Third, political parties supporting the Catalan government could pursue a comprehensive Education Pact—possibly with a national scope—after the regional budget is approved. Such a pact would aim to address systemic issues beyond temporary measures like reducing class sizes or increasing staff over the next four years.
Meanwhile, Ustec’s silence on a recent European Court of Human Rights ruling—requiring 25% of classes in a Canet school to be taught in Spanish—reflects the union’s current retreat from linguistic debates. Notably, Ustec, like Junts, has not signed or joined the Pacto Nacional por la Lengua, which seeks to ensure Catalan remains the primary language of instruction in schools.
For context, Catalonia’s education sector has a long history of labor disputes, often centered on language policy, funding, and working conditions. The Pacto Nacional por la Lengua is part of broader efforts to protect Catalan in public life, while the region’s education budget remains a recurring point of contention. The outcome of these unresolved issues will likely shape the direction of Catalan education policy in the coming years.
