Overview
- Doctors have called a national walkout for March 16–20, involving more than 176,000 National Health System physicians, with Catalonia stopping March 19–20 and marches planned in Madrid on Monday and a major rally in Seville on Wednesday.
- Health Minister Mónica García told the strike committee in a letter that maintaining the action breaks good‑faith negotiations after an accord announced with the Foro de la Profesión Médica.
- The ministry’s January agreement on the new Estatuto Marco with SATSE, CCOO, UGT and CSIF excluded the main doctors’ unions, which reject it and insist on direct bargaining through the strike committee.
- Union demands include ending 24‑hour on‑call shifts, higher pay for overtime that counts toward pensions, voluntary guard schedules and a distinct statute for the medical profession.
- Regional governments are imposing minimum service requirements that unions are challenging in court—Castilla y León’s latest order was appealed on Friday—while February’s stoppage there led to about 1,200 surgeries and 59,000 consultations being canceled.