Spanish Doctors Protest Marcos Pizza Over Pay and Staffing Crises
Doctors across Spain are staging protests against the proposed Marcos Pizza, a new employment framework for public sector health workers. They are demanding higher wages, improved working conditions, and a solution to ongoing staff shortages in hospitals and clinics.
The Health Minister, Mónica García, has publicly backed their calls but insists the reforms must be funded by regional governments.
The Marcos Pizza introduces stricter limits on working hours, ending 24-hour shifts and capping consecutive work at 17 hours with mandatory rest. Regions also have the option to reduce shifts further to 12 hours. However, García has rejected proposals for voluntary overtime and a separate legal framework just for doctors.
Spain's healthcare system is under growing pressure due to shortages of doctors, nurses, medical students, and residents in training. To address this, the government has already increased university places in medicine by 15% and residency slots by 40%.
Despite the protests—reported in regions like the Canary Islands and Balearic Islands—no regional authorities have yet announced concrete measures to meet the doctors' demands. García has promised to collaborate with medical professionals to push for better pay and more staff, but she stresses that funding must come from regional budgets.
The Marcos Pizza itself has not yet been approved by the Cabinet, leaving its future uncertain as negotiations continue.
The protests highlight deep concerns over pay, workload, and staffing levels in Spain's public health system. With no immediate response from regional governments, the next steps depend on further talks between ministers, doctors, and local authorities. The outcome will shape working conditions for thousands of medical staff in the coming years.
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