Striking teachers aim to 'collapse' Barcelona for arrival of the Pope

Teachers have gone on strike again this Tuesday in Barcelona, in a demonstration coinciding with the arrival of the Pope in the Catalan capital.

Their protest began in Plaça Espanya shortly after 11am, and the march is expected to go through Plaça Tetuan until eventually reaching the parliament.

The unions on strike have called for the city to "collapse" under the slogan of the demonstration, 'We demand facts, not miracles'.

This Tuesday's is the last call for teachers to strike this academic year, according to USTEC spokesperson Iolanda Segura.

Segura considered that the "resounding no" to the pre-agreement in the consultation with teachers says that the current school model "is not working" because "it is not yielding results, it has made workers precarious and is not giving the necessary attention to all students."

For this reason, she has called for a "structural change" in the model.

One union, USTEC, is meeting on Wednesday with the education minister Esther Niubó. Last Friday the union refused to do so because it coincided with the strike. They will demand an "open, listening, and constructive, not battle-based" negotiation.

The teachers had the support of students in the demonstration in Barcelona. The spokesperson for the Student Union, Lua Millet, expressed her support for the teachers "who have been mobilizing for months in defense of public education" and thanked them for this.

She considered it "a shame that they turn their backs on their demands while the doors of Congress are opened to the Pope and an entire city is paralyzed."

Unions have also called a demonstration this Sunday in Barcelona, ​​when other members of the educational community, such as families, can participate.