Thousands of teachers, students and families took to the streets of Madrid on Sunday to demand improvements to public education, as unions prepare for an indefinite strike beginning on 14 October.
Around 20,000 people joined the demonstration, according to a government delegation figure cited by El País. The march, organised by the Madrid Public Education United Strike Committee, left Atocha at midday and made its way to Puerta del Sol, where the regional government has its headquarters. Trade unions, student organisations and other education groups joined the protest under the slogan, ‘Save public education’. ALSO READ: Spain’s PISA scores fall to record lows as reading, maths and science decline.
Protesters wearing the green shirts associated with Madrid’s public education movement carried banners calling for fewer teaching hours, smaller classes and greater investment in schools. At Puerta del Sol, the march converged with a separate citizens’ encampment established the previous night to demand action on housing. ALSO READ: Protesters vow to stay in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol as housing camp puts pressure on government.
Demands over hours, pay and class sizes
The strike committee wants teaching duties limited to 17 periods a week in secondary schools and vocational training, and 22 in primary schools. It says the calculation must include time spent on tutoring, heading departments and coordinating school activities.
Its demands also extend to lower pupil-to-teacher ratios, more counsellors and specialist staff for pupils who need additional support, less administrative work and better school facilities.
Pay is another central issue. Aida Sanmillán, general secretary of the CCOO Madrid union’s education federation, said teachers in the region had suffered a 21.9% loss of purchasing power since 2010. She called for a €600 pay rise to bring their salaries closer to those in other Spanish regions and secure ‘a decent salary to be able to live in this Community’.
UGT union spokesperson Chema Pinto drew attention to school segregation, which he described as the highest in Spain. He called for a public school system that defends equal opportunity for every pupil, regardless of their background.
‘It cannot be that inequalities on entering the education system are perpetuated or increase throughout it, and that on leaving they remain the same or are even greater,’ he said.
The Student Union also urged families to support the forthcoming strike. Its spokesperson, Carlos Ochoa, called on working families to ‘get involved in the strike’ and ‘take part in the mobilisations’. He said the campaign was ‘not just a battle of young people’ or of the education community, but a fight to defend a social achievement belonging to the working class as a whole.
Regional government defends its record
The Madrid regional government says the 2026–27 school year began with 1,280 more teachers in public schools, backed by more than €65 million in additional spending. It also says the maximum class size in compulsory secondary education has been reduced from 30 to 25 pupils, while the limit in the first two years of primary school is 20.
Unions argue that those changes fall short of what schools need. They want further reductions in class sizes, especially where pupils require specific support, alongside more staff and fewer teaching periods for teachers.
The indefinite strike was announced in May and ratified at teachers’ assemblies in June. Madrid’s education authorities have since made moves towards talks: regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso called for negotiations on teachers’ career progression earlier this month, and the regional government invited unions to a sectoral meeting.
For now, the strike committee is maintaining its 14 October start date. Unless the two sides reach an agreement, Sunday’s march will be followed by an open-ended stoppage across Madrid’s public non-university education sector.
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#EstáPasando📸
— Educación CCOO Madrid (@CCOOEducaMa) September 27, 2026
DEFENDEMOS LA PÚBLICA, DEFENDEMOS EL FUTURO.
🚨 ¡ARRANCA LA MANIFESTACIÓN! La Educación Pública sale a la calle. 🔥📢
🛑 ¡No nos vamos a callar!
📲 Comparte esta publicación y llena las redes mientras nosotros llenamos las calles.#LaPublicaEnPie pic.twitter.com/AsOWLRpXl3
Alrededor de 10.000 personas salen a las calles de Madrid en defensa de la Educación pública antes de la huelga indefinida convocada a partir del 14 de octubre. Profesores, alumnos y familias marchan bajo el lema ‘Salvemos la pública’ https://t.co/aW0MPiM9Lf pic.twitter.com/g0OaPEXKnV
— Europa Press (@europapress) September 27, 2026
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