Students and staff at Madrid’s six public universities began a two-day strike on Wednesday to protest a funding agreement between the universities’ rectors and the regional government led by Isabel Díaz Ayuso. Organisers call it “the pact of shame” and say the additional funding falls short of what campuses need. Some 209,000 students and 32,900 employees, including 22,800 professors, have been called to join the stoppage.
The deal provides an extra 180 million euros in 2027 under the new funding model, bringing the total to 1.4201 billion euros, 14.6% more than the previous year. Strike organisers argue that the increase starts from an inadequate baseline. The regional government’s spokesperson, Miguel Ángel García Martín, described the strike as “political” and said it was not a protest for better funding, which he said was at a “historic high.”
The strike has drawn strong participation at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) and the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM), while activity has been more limited at the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM). At the Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC), official figures showed that 66% of classes had been cancelled, with the rate exceeding 80% in Aranjuez and Alcorcón. The regional government had not published official participation figures at the time of reporting.
Financial concerns are especially acute at the Complutense, which has cut spending by 35% since mid-2024, and the URJC, which is seeking a 40-million-euro loan to cover the coming months. The URJC’s 2027 allocation is set at 152.8 million euros. The university’s rector, Abraham Duarte, expects its balance between income and expenditure to begin improving from 2028 as regional funding rises, but says it needs support in the meantime.
Participation has varied across campuses. The CGT union estimated strike participation at 95% at the Complutense and 90% at the UAM, and put the share of cancelled classes at between 80% and 85% in the Carlos III University’s social sciences and humanities faculties in Getafe. It also estimated participation of around 85% at that campus overall, but did not provide a figure for the Leganés campus. The UPM saw a much smaller stoppage.
A planned march from the Socialist Party’s headquarters on Ferraz Street to the People’s Party’s offices on Génova Street did not begin at the proposed starting point. Demonstrators said the government delegation had blocked the route; the delegation said the march had always been agreed to start 300 metres from Ferraz. Protesters eventually set off from Marqués de Urquijo, with the Public University Platform condemning what it called an arbitrary decision.
The university strike coincides with a wider labour dispute in Madrid’s schools. Teachers in non-university education are in their fourth week of strikes, seeking fewer teaching hours and smaller classes, more staff and higher pay. Unions say Education Counsellor Mercedes Zarzalejo has not sat down to negotiate with them.
Sources: El País Educación.