Around 1,000 doctors march through central Barcelona demanding better working conditions

Around 1,000 doctors – according to local police – marched through central Barcelona on Wednesday on the fourth day of strike action, calling for improved working conditions and a dedicated labor agreement.

Marching under the slogan "This affects you too," protesters wore white coats and masks bearing the face of Catalonia's health minister, Olga Pané.

They demanded an end to 24-hour on-call shifts and a sector-specific collective agreement.

The Catalan health department said strike participation across SISCAT hospitals and health centers stood at 6.5% on Wednesday morning. Doctors' union Metges de Catalunya put participation at around 45%.

The demonstration began at Plaça Sant Jaume, where protesters observed a minute's silence "for Catalan healthcare," before heading down Via Laietana and along Marquès de l’Argentera Avenue to the Catalan parliament.

Along the route, doctors chanted slogans calling for an immediate labor agreement, "reasonable shifts," and a greater role in decision-making.

"Less suits, more white coats," they shouted.

Calls for Pané's resignation and "frank talks"

Outside parliament, protesters again called for Pané’s resignation, a demand repeated throughout the march. Speaking to reporters, union secretary general Xavier Lleonart described the strike's impact as "very positive." 

He said the difference in strike participation figures was due to methodology, as unions count only staff eligible to strike, while the health department includes all employees, including those on leave.

Lleonart said industrial action would continue until there were "frank talks" with either the health minister or Catalan president Salvador Illa.

"Impossible schedules" and “dire conditions”

Among the demonstrators was Elena, a gynecologist at the Parc Sanitari de Sant Boi de Llobregat, who said doctors face “impossible schedules” that make work-life balance unmanageable.

"Working 24 hours straight is extremely difficult," she said. "Responsibility keeps increasing, but pay stays the same," she added.

Joan, a doctor at Mataró Hospital, described conditions as "dire" and unlike those faced by most other workers.

"There are no airline pilots flying planes for 24 hours straight," he said, warning that such conditions were driving doctors into private healthcare or abroad.