Doctors working in the public health service of the Comunidad de Madrid (the Madrid regional government) have resumed their strike, with 72-hour stoppages planned until December. They want a 35-hour working week, better pay for on-call shifts and an end to compulsory on-call duty, and they say these changes are needed to stop doctors leaving the region.
What happened
According to 20minutos Madrid, the first 72-hour stoppages were due to start last week but were called off after the rail accident. On the day the strike resumed, doctors in white coats gathered from around 9.30 at number 29 calle Aduana. That address is the Consejería de Sanidad, the regional health department, headed by Fátima Matute. From 10.00 they marched from there to the Congreso de los Diputados, Spain’s lower house of parliament.
Ángela Hernández is secretary general of Amyts, the Madrid doctors’ union. She told the newspaper that heavy workloads had been a problem for years. She also said the regional health minister had not met the unions and that, with current conditions, doctors “prefer to hang up their coats”, meaning that they leave the profession, move abroad or go into private practice. The unions say the last meeting with the Consejería was in July. That came after professionals stopped doing voluntary extra work, known as peonadas, in May. A timetable for talks was then agreed, but the doctors say there has been no progress since.
The regional government disputes this. The Consejería told 20minutos Madrid that 90% of the demands have already been met or fall under the central government’s powers. Matute said the unions “lie when they say we don’t listen, that we don’t meet”, and said a meeting had taken place that Tuesday. The region says a pilot programme to end compulsory on-call duty will start before the end of the year. It also says it has already agreed higher pay for on-call shifts and for the jornada complementaria (hours worked beyond the normal working day), plus pay rises for staff at Summa 112, Madrid’s emergency medical service.
The doctors’ main demands, as listed by the newspaper, are:
- a 35-hour working week, with every hour worked counting towards it
- a new, open and permanent career progression model, with pay that reflects the specific nature of medical work
- higher on-call payments and a move to voluntary on-call duty
- a temporary supplement to compensate for the extra pay instalment lost in 2010
- a negotiating forum just for doctors, called a Mesa de Concertación Médica y Facultativa
- a statute for resident doctors in training
- in Atención Primaria (primary care, meaning GP and health centre services), appointment lists sized to staff capacity, a cap on daily appointments, stable posts and shifts, and an end to forced transfers between centres
- specific improvements for staff dentists, and a review of the agreements covering doctors who work outside hospitals and at Summa 112
What it means for you
This strike affects the public health service run by the Comunidad de Madrid. It is a regional dispute, not a national one. Private health care is not part of it.
For patients, the disruption has been small so far. According to 20minutos Madrid, 3.5% of hospital doctors and 0.5% of primary care doctors were on strike in the first hour of the morning. Minimum services, the staffing levels required by law during a strike, keep 100% cover in essential services such as Urgencias (A&E) and Emergencias (emergency services). If you need urgent care on a strike day, go to A&E or call emergency services as you normally would.
If you have a planned hospital appointment, a test or a health centre visit on a strike day, it could still be affected. Check with your health centre or hospital before you go, and ask whether your appointment will go ahead.
What to watch next
According to the newspaper, the next stoppages are set for 18 to 21 November and 9 to 12 December. Look out for news on whether the Consejería and the unions reach any agreement before those dates. You can also watch for the start of the regional pilot to end compulsory on-call duty, which the government says will begin before the end of the year.
Source: 20minutos Madrid
Sources
- 20minutos Madrid: Los médicos reanudan la huelga para exigir a Madrid las 35 horas semanales y guardias mejor pagadas para evitar la fuga de talento, accessed 5 November 2026
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