Andalucia is bracing for four days of major disruption across hospitals and health centres as Spain faces its biggest doctors’ strike in three decades.
From December 9 to 12, medics across the country will walk out in protest at the Ministry of Health’s proposed reforms to the Estatuto Marco, the legal framework that governs working conditions in the public health system.
It comes after a short 24-hour strike in June and another in October failed to move negotiations forward, leading to this week’s 96-hour stoppage, branded a ‘last resort’ by unions.
Why are doctors striking?
The last major doctors’ strike in Andalucia was back in 1995 – then over pay. This time, unions insist the fight is about basic working conditions.
Rafael Ojeda, president of the Sindicato Medico Andaluz (SMA), says the walkout aims to end ‘chronic job instability’ in the profession and ensure that the Estatuto Marco reflects the fact that doctors face overwhelming patient loads, recruitment shortages and a system they describe as eroding their rights.
The strike is backed by both the SMA and the Confederación Española de Sindicatos Médicos, who accuse the Ministry of ‘ignoring’ the profession’s demands during the drafting of the new legislation.
Among the issues they highlight:
- Removal of guarantees on minimum staff-to-patient ratios, despite primary care centres already reporting workloads far above the European average.
- The proposed scrapping of the five-tier career progression system.
- No incentives for hard-to-cover posts in rural or isolated areas.
- Removal of protections allowing workers to receive full pay during sick leave, maternity and paternity leave, pregnancy risk and breastfeeding.
- Weakened rules on forced relocations, including the elimination of minimum notice periods.
Andalucía, which already ranks near the bottom in Spain for the number of practising doctors per capita, is especially vulnerable. Medical unions warn that an exodus of professionals is accelerating, with many heading to other regions or abroad for better conditions.
Standoff over minimum service levels
With the strike now only hours away, the SMA and the regional health ministry have still not agreed on minimum staffing levels during the walkout.
The union argues that the Junta’s draft plan effectively allows hospitals to operate with nearly normal staffing by allowing up to 50% more doctors in emergency units compared with a standard weekend shift – a clause they say undermines the right to strike.
According to the document, hospitals and primary care centres must maintain the activity of a public holiday, ensuring emergency care, critical care, maternity, diagnostic testing and urgent surgery proceed as usual.
What the Junta and Ministry say
Andalucía’s health chief, Antonio Sanz, has blamed the strike on the national government, warning that the four-day stoppage ‘risks harming patient care’ and accusing Health Minister Mónica García of ignoring professionals’ concerns.
But unions counter that the regional governments also hold responsibility through their role in the Interterritorial Council, which must approve the final text of the Estatuto Marco.
What to expect from Tuesday
- Hospitals and health centres will operate on holiday-level staffing.
- Emergency departments, critical care and maternity services will remain running.
- Non-urgent appointments, elective surgeries and routine consultations may be delayed or cancelled.
- SUAP urgent-care centres will absorb some primary-care demand, as on weekends.
Unions warn that the walkout could be ‘massive’ and that the system will operate at its bare minimum.
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