Catalonia faces a heated end of term: strikes in education, healthcare, and Rodalies

Strike calendar in Catalunya: the key dates in May and June for education, healthcare and Rodalies

Catalunya faces a particularly tense end to the school year. Between May and early June, several strike calls coincide in sensitive sectors: education, healthcare and public transport. There is no nationwide general strike called by CCOO and UGT for May, but there is a calendar of sectoral stoppages that could directly affect schools, hospitals, trains and families.

The main focus is on Catalonia’s public education system. USTEC, Professors de Secundària, CGT and La Intersindical have called a series of 17 strike days between May and June, with three days of general stoppages across the Catalan education system: 12 May, 27 May and 5 June. The protest stems from these unions’ rejection of the agreement signed by the Departament d’Educació with CCOO and UGT, which they consider insufficient.

The most difficult days in education

The education calendar combines general strikes, territorial stoppages and specific days in the 0-3 stage. In practice, this means that not all centres will be affected in the same way each day, but there will be several critical dates for families and teaching staff.

The three most important days are:

12 May: first general education strike in Catalunya. 27 May: second general education strike. 5 June: third general strike and the close of the mobilisation cycle.

These dates are joined by territorial stoppages in areas such as Barcelona and Barcelonès, Baix Llobregat, Penedès, Girona, Catalunya Central, Lleida, Tarragona, Terres de l’Ebre, Maresme and the Vallès areas. According to El Periódico, the calendar entails five strike days per centre: three general and two territorial.

What teachers are demanding

The calling unions argue that the Govern’s agreement does not resolve the system’s underlying problems. Their demands focus on four ideas: restoring pay, reducing class sizes, more resources for inclusive education and less bureaucracy.

USTEC has particularly criticised the difference between the pay improvement offered to teachers and that agreed for other corps such as the Mossos d’Esquadra. The union maintains that the proposed increase does not compensate for the accumulated loss of purchasing power and calls for broader negotiations on working conditions and resources in schools.

For its part, the Departament d’Educació defends the agreement signed with CCOO and UGT and presents it as a significant improvement in pay, class sizes and inclusion. The minister Esther Niubó has described the calendar of 17 strike days as disproportionate, while the calling unions insist that without more pressure the school year will not end normally.

Healthcare: new doctors’ strike on 20 May

Catalan healthcare also has a date marked in red. Metges de Catalunya has called a new strike day for 20 May in public and contracted healthcare. With this call, the union brings the number of stoppage days since October 2025 to 11.

The protest is part of the “Ni un minut més” campaign, through which the union seeks to denounce what it defines as a structural and planned overload. Its demands include equalising working hours, ending the obligation to work 24-hour shifts, guaranteeing sufficient staffing levels, limiting appointment schedules and improving work-life balance and rest.

The union maintains that the system operates thanks to additional activity, extra shifts, doubled shifts and additional on-call duties. The strike seeks to make this dependence visible and force a specific negotiation for the medical profession.

Rodalies: partial stoppages on 27 May and 5 June

Transport may add another layer of tension to the calendar. CCOO and UGT have called partial stoppages on the Rodalies de Catalunya network for 27 May and 5 June, coinciding precisely with two of the general education strike days.

The rail unions denounce staff shortages, safety problems, assaults on workers and failure to comply with agreements reached in February. One of their main demands is that every medium-distance train should have a ticket inspector, as well as more staff and pay improvements.

The overlap with the education stoppages may make travel especially difficult in Barcelona’s metropolitan area and for journeys by families, teachers and students.

Road transport: threat of an indefinite strike in June

Outside the strictly Catalan focus, there is a nationwide threat that could also have an impact in Catalunya. UGT has announced an indefinite strike in road freight and passenger transport from 8 June if the Government does not unblock the request for early retirement for professional drivers.

The demand focuses on applying reduction coefficients to a profession which the unions consider especially hard and with a high accident rate. UGT says that the application has been blocked for months and demands a written response before activating the strike.

If it is ultimately confirmed, the impact could be felt in freight, buses, intercity transport and logistics, just before the start of the summer season.

Quick calendar of key dates

20 May: doctors’ strike in Catalan public and contracted healthcare. 27 May: general education strike in Catalunya and partial Rodalies stoppage. 5 June: another general education strike and partial Rodalies stoppage. 8 June: possible start of an indefinite road transport strike in Spain.

In addition, the education calendar includes territorial stoppages between May and June, so it is advisable to check each centre and each area before assuming that a day will be normal.

Why so many protests coincide

Although each sector has its own demands, there is a common thread: pay, working conditions, overload, insufficient staffing levels and a feeling that agreements do not reach everyday life.

In education, the conflict centres on class sizes, bureaucracy, purchasing power and resources for inclusion. In healthcare, on working days, on-call duties and medical overload. In Rodalies, on safety, staffing and failure to comply with agreements. In road transport, on early retirement and recognition of the hardship of the profession.

It is not a general strike, but the cumulative effect may resemble end-of-school-year social pressure: classrooms, hospitals, trains and roads under strain at the same time.

What families and users should bear in mind

For families with children in public schools, the critical dates are 27 May and 5 June, because the education strike and partial Rodalies stoppage coincide.

For users of public and contracted healthcare, 20 May may bring rescheduling, delays or changes to appointments, always subject to minimum services.

For those who depend on Rodalies, it is advisable to follow service updates on 27 May and 5 June.

And for companies or travellers who depend on road transport, 8 June is the date to watch if there is no agreement beforehand.