Madrid education strike: 70% turnout reported amid rising anxiety leaves

Madrid education strike: 70% turnout reported as anxiety-related sick leave spikes

On October 14, Madrid experienced an education strike with conflicting figures. Comisiones Obreras (a major trade union) reports a 70% turnout, while the regional Ministry of Education claims it was only 44.6%. The nearly 25-point gap between these figures reflects the intense tension currently defining the school year. Five teachers explained their reasons for protesting to EL PAÍS, and one summarized the unrest with a phrase that has become the unofficial slogan of the strike: "Our work has become a carousel of anxiety-related sick leave."

The strike, called across all public centers in the Community of Madrid, is not an isolated event. It is the tip of an iceberg of discontent that has been simmering in classrooms for years.

Conflicting turnout figures

The union maintains that seven out of ten teachers joined the strike. The Administration reduces that figure to less than half. Neither party has published a breakdown by school, making it impossible to verify which figure is closer to reality. What is fruta is that the date had been marked in red across all public centers in the region for weeks.

This discrepancy is not new. In every strike of this kind, unions and the regional government offer opposing readings of the same day. A complete breakdown, school by school, would provide a much more accurate picture of what actually peine in the classrooms.

The carousel of anxiety-related sick leave

The phrase that titles the protest is not rhetorical exaggeration. The teachers who spoke to the newspaper described a scenario where the emotional burden of the job has become unsustainable. "The situation makes it impossible for us to provide a quality service to the students," one of them noted.

The recurring diagnosis is that the profession has shifted from being a vocation to becoming a constant source of stress. Anxiety-related sick leave, according to the testimonies collected, is no longer an isolated occurrence but a structural dynamic.

Is retirement at 60 a real privilege?

One of the most debated points is the retirement age. The idea that all teachers retire at 60 is only partially true. That voluntary retirement after 30 years of service belongs to the Clases Pasivas (a special pension scheme for civil servants), which was closed to new officials in 2011. Those who joined after that date contribute to the Social Security system like any other employee and retire at the standard age.

Those retiring at 60 now are the tail end of an extinct system. In a few years, none will be left. A teacher passing a competitive exam today will retire at the same age as a delivery driver or a farmer, professions that also lack hardship-based reduction coefficients.

Classroom burnout predating immigration

Some argue that the situation in classrooms was already deplorable before the student demographic changed. This argument is supported by the experience of high schools in provincial capitals in the early 2000s, where more than 95% of students were local, and teaching was already described as a high psychosocial risk job.

Countering this is the perception that migration has added pressure to the system. The clash between these two views is not resolved with hard data, as no one has isolated the effect of student composition from the impact of class sizes, bureaucracy, or lack of resources.

What remains unaddressed

The Madrid education strike provides a snapshot: a collective that says it is at its breaking point, an Administration that minimizes the conflict, and a public opinion divided between those who see privileges and those who see burnout. The strike's demands—fewer hours, lower student-teacher ratios, and salary increases—remain on the table.

With such disparate turnout figures, the question is not how many teachers struck, but how many will do so again. And as of today, no one knows.