Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Andalucia on Sunday in one of the region’s largest coordinated protests in years.
The demonstrators demanded stronger support for public healthcare and denouncing what organisers called the ‘progressive dismantling’ of the Andalucian Health Service (SAS).
The demonstrations, organised by the Marea Blanca movement and supported by more than 20 trade unions, neighbourhood groups and political organisations, took place simultaneously in all eight provincial capitals – including Sevilla, Malaga, Granada, Córdoba, Cadiz, Almeria, Huelva and Jaen.
Massive turnout in Malaga and Sevilla
In Malaga, an estimated 20,000 people filled the streets from Muelle de Heredia to Plaza de la Merced, while thousands more gathered in Sevilla’s historic centre, marching under the slogan ‘Defendamos la sanidad pública’ (‘Let’s defend public healthcare’).
Chants such as ‘Fuera las listas de espera’ (‘End waiting lists’) and ‘Ni un euro más para la privada’ echoed through city streets as protesters carried banners criticising hospital delays, staffing shortages and the regional government’s growing use of private healthcare contracts.
Breast cancer screening failures fuel outrage
The marches follow recent revelations about failures in Andalucia’s breast cancer screening programme, which have affected more than 2,000 women across the region.
Organisers said the issue symbolised the wider decline of the system, with patients waiting months for operations, diagnostic tests or specialist appointments.
‘Thousands of woman have been abandoned,’ said one banner in Granada. ‘Public health is being turned into a business,’ another read in Cadiz.
The protests were backed by major unions UGT, CCOO, CGT, and left-wing parties including PSOE, IU, Podemos, and Adelante Andalucia, along with associations of pensioners, consumers and neighbourhood groups.
However, professional unions such as CSIF, Satse (the nursing union) and the Sindicato Medico did not join the call.
Junta defends its record
Responding to the demonstrations, Antonio Sanz, Andalucia’s Minister for Health, said he respected the right to protest and offered an ‘open hand for dialogue’ with healthcare workers and citizens.
He insisted that the regional government is ‘investing more than ever’ in health services and that cooperation with private clinics ‘is aimed at reducing waiting times, not weakening the public system.’
Still, for many demonstrators, Sunday’s marches were a warning that public patience is wearing thin. As one placard in Sevilla summed it up: ‘Without public healthcare, there is no equality.’
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
