Spain’s Health Minister Mónica García has defended the planned submission of the revised Estatuto Marco for healthcare staff to the Congreso de los Diputados and warned against using it as a pretext for the announced doctors’ protest. García said on X on 11 September that parliamentary consideration was good news and opened the way for regular democratic dialogue through amendments and hearings. The indefinite strike announced recently by associations, starting on 28 October 2026 (huelga indefinida), must therefore not be justified by the move to Congress.
The minister also stressed that the regions have been responsible for health service staffing and organisation for decades. Exclusive powers over planning, organisation and human resources have been held by the comunidades autónomas, she recalled, since 2001; in some cases, earlier: in Cataluña since 1981, in the Basque Country (Euskadi) since 1983 and in Navarre since 1990. The Estatuto Marco was therefore “necessary, but not sufficient” to resolve all labour and collective bargaining demands. “The employer is not the Ministerio de Sanidad, but the Autonomous Communities,” García wrote, pointing to ongoing offers of dialogue.
The dispute centres on the government’s draft to update the framework law for staff in the public health services. Critics from doctors’ associations see it as an attempt to centralise powers or set rules without sufficient involvement from professional groups. The Ministerio de Sanidad disagrees: submitting the bill to Parliament provides the right framework for discussing concerns and, if necessary, amending the text. The minister’s remark that parliamentary consideration could “offend nobody” addresses regional governments that believe responsibilities are being shifted to Madrid, or conversely are calling for central guidelines.
According to the organisers, the huelga indefinida scheduled for 28 October 2026 is directed against key elements of the draft. If a strike takes place, the relevant regions will have to set details of minimum services across the board. Observers expect any impact to focus mainly on planned treatments and waiting lists; emergency cases would be covered by minimum services as usual.
Referral to the Congreso de los Diputados marks the start of the ordinary legislative process, with deadlines for amendments and committee discussions. García reiterated that the “open path of democratic dialogue” should be used – at national level in Parliament and locally between doctors and the comunidades autónomas.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).