The defense of public education brought together teachers, students, and workers from all educational stages in the streets of Madrid this Thursday. Thousands of people marched through the center of the capital at the end of the second day of strikes in the six public universities of Madrid, in a mobilization that also included Early Childhood, Primary, Secondary, and Baccalaureate teachers, who have been on indefinite strike since October 14.
The march filled the Paseo del Prado and passed through Cibeles and Alcalá Street until reaching the Puerta del Sol. During the route, chants such as "Ayuso, listen, the public is fighting!" and "Zarzalejo, sit down!" were heard, directed at the president of the Community of Madrid and her Minister of Education, Mercedes Zarzalejo, whom the demonstrators demand negotiate their demands.
Teachers on strike during the demonstration in Madrid this afternoon. Matias Chiofalo / Europa Press
The platform UCM por la Pública, made up of students and workers from the Complutense University, estimated the attendance at around 64,000 people. University platforms warn that the protests will continue if the Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso does not open negotiations on campus funding and staff conditions.
"If there is no negotiation, the mobilization will escalate," warned Enma García, spokesperson for the university collective, before the start of the march. The protest highlighted the difficulties that teachers and students denounce in the classrooms, from the lack of resources and staff to the deterioration of facilities and workload.
During the morning, professors and students from Complutense also took their classes to the vicinity of the Reina Sofía Museum, reviving the initiative "The university in the street". Teachers from different faculties held open sessions on subjects such as non-verbal communication, the El Niño climate phenomenon, and coexistence with the Iberian wolf.
A strike from the classrooms to the street
This Thursday's day closed the two days of strike called in the six public universities of the region: Complutense, Autónoma, Politécnica, Alcalá, Carlos III, and Rey Juan Carlos. Students, faculty, research staff, and administration and services workers were called to participate.
The convening platforms demand greater funding, more hiring, salary improvements, less precariousness, and resources to maintain facilities and develop research. They also ask to be recognized as interlocutors in conversations about the economic future of universities.
On the first day, the platform UCM por la Pública estimated 95% participation at Complutense, a figure provided by the conveners. At Rey Juan Carlos, the university itself reported that 66% of classes were suspended. This Thursday, representatives of the platforms again spoke of broad participation, with closed faculties and protest activities on campuses.
The university mobilization coincides with the indefinite strike of non-university teachers. Among their main demands are the reduction of weekly teaching hours from 25 to 22 in Early Childhood and Primary Education and from 19 to 17 in Secondary Education, the reduction of student-to-classroom ratios, more specialists to address diversity, and a salary increase of 600 euros per month.
Teachers also ask for less bureaucratic burden and improvements in buildings, including air conditioning in classrooms and the removal of asbestos. The demands affect about 65,000 people called to strike and centers where more than 666,000 students study.
Ayuso questions the protests
Hours before the demonstration, Ayuso has again disqualified the strike during the control session in the Madrid Assembly. The president has attributed the protests to the left, has called them "devious" and has stated that Madrid students have lost 270,000 hours of class due to the stoppages. She has also questioned the representativeness of those who promote them.
The regional government defends that university funding is at its highest and claims the agreement signed with the rectors of the six public universities, which covers the period from 2026 to 2031. For 2027, the Community foresees 1,420.1 million euros allocated to universities, 180 million more than in the previous year, according to its budget project.
The platforms consider this model insufficient and question how its figures are presented. They warn that part of the increase is linked to the achievement of objectives and that the global calculation also incorporates amounts contributed by families. The economic situation has already led the Complutense to resort to a loan, while the Rey Juan Carlos is studying requesting another.
The strike has also left an incident during a concentration held this Thursday in front of the Ministry of Education. A Secondary school teacher has been arrested and the Menos Lectivas platform has denounced that he was provoked by infiltrated agents. The participants then continued with the afternoon mobilization through the center of Madrid.
