Thousands of teachers march in Barcelona over pay and resources

Thousands of teachers marched through central Barcelona on Tuesday, 12 May 2026, as part of ongoing strike action across Catalonia, demanding increased pay and more resources for student support. Police estimated 26,000 participants, while organisers put the figure at 80,000.

The demonstration, called by USTEC, Secondary School Teachers, CGT, and Intersindical unions, started at Plaça Urquinaona and proceeded to the government headquarters at Plaça Sant Jaume. Protesters are calling for lower class sizes and higher pay increases than those agreed between the education department and the CCOO and UGT unions.

USTEC spokesperson Iolanda Segura demanded the resignation of Catalan education minister Esther Niubó if she fails to present a "firm proposal" and a willingness to negotiate at Thursday's education sector meeting. Segura criticised the minister's perceived lack of negotiation willingness, accusing the government of "entrenchment" and defending an agreement that, she said, "has been rejected by 95% of the sector."

Government Urges Realism Amidst Demands

Catalan government spokesperson Sílvia Paneque urged teachers' unions to show a "sense of reality," stating that "resources are what they are." Speaking after the weekly cabinet meeting, Paneque defended the agreement signed with CCOO and UGT, describing it as an unprecedented €2 billion investment following a decade of underfunding.

Paneque acknowledged teachers' dissatisfaction but insisted Thursday's sectoral committee meeting is intended to explain the agreement, outline its implementation, and listen to concerns. "From one day to the next we cannot fix an issue that has deteriorated over the last ten years," she said. The agreement, in her view, addresses key demands, including reduced bureaucracy, lower class sizes, increased support for inclusive education, improved teacher pay, and higher investment in school maintenance. Catalonia's total education budget stands at €8 billion, according to Paneque.

Earlier on Tuesday morning, teachers blocked several major roads and access routes into Barcelona, causing widespread traffic disruption during rush hour. Protesters disrupted traffic on the B-20 in Santa Coloma and Mundet, the C-32 in Mataró, the AP-7 in Montornès and between Cerdanyola and Sant Cugat del Vallès, the C-17 in Malla, and the C-55 from Manresa towards Barcelona, according to the Catalan Traffic Service. These roadblocks were gradually lifted throughout the morning.

Minister Calls Pay Demands "Maximalist"

In Barcelona, around 100 teachers also blocked Gran Via near Can Batlló. The arrival of a Mossos d'Esquadra patrol prompted chants of "Less police, more education." Protesters ironically announced over loudspeaker that "two staffroom colleagues" had arrived, referencing recent tensions after two undercover police officers allegedly infiltrated a teachers' assembly.

Catalonia's education minister Esther Niubó described union demands for a monthly pay rise of around €400 as "maximalist," stating such positions "do not help bring sides closer together." Speaking to Catalunya Ràdio, Niubó was responding to comments by USTEC spokesperson Iolanda Segura, who told the newspaper Ara that this salary increase would be needed to end the protests.

Niubó said the Catalan government had already moved on salaries by approving a 30% increase in the specific supplementary pay component for teachers, equivalent to roughly €200 more per month over four years. She added that teachers' demands extend beyond pay to include calls for greater educational resources, particularly for inclusive education, and said this was where "paths to consensus" and room for negotiation could be found. The minister urged unions to attend the sector-wide meeting scheduled for Thursday.

Union Proposes €400-€500 Monthly Increase

Niubó defended the government's handling of the dispute, saying it was making an "unprecedented effort" to respond to teachers’ demands. She described the agreement already reached with the CCOO and UGT unions as "beginning to lay the foundations" for improving the education system.

USTEC spokesperson Iolanda Segura said on Tuesday that the teachers' union could consider ending its protest campaign if the Catalan education department proposed a monthly salary increase of between €400 and €500 gross. "It is a proposal that could be put on the table and we could see whether the sector considers it acceptable, because with that we would reverse a situation of salary injustice," Segura told the newspaper Ara.

Segura added that any deal would need a timetable for implementation, suggesting that €200 could be introduced in the first year, with the remainder phased in over the following two or three years. "That would allow us to finish negotiating," she said, while warning that the union would not sign any agreement without approval from members. She reiterated that the €200 monthly increase included in the current agreement was "unacceptable."

Àurea Calsapeu, a teacher from Mataró who took part in the C-32 blockade, said classrooms were "overcrowded" and that public education was "falling apart." "We need resources for inclusion. We have a lot of diversity and we cannot cope with everything," she said. Òscar Simon Bueno, a USTEC union representative in Vallès Oriental who participated in the AP-7 blockade in Montornès, criticised the lack of resources for inclusive education and the loss of purchasing power among teachers. He said the roadblocks were intended to pressure the government into making a "substantive" proposal capable of convincing the sector. "The will of education staff is to work, to teach and to be in schools," he said.

Catalonia's education department reported that 31.97% of staff had joined the strike by 1pm, based on data from 85.17% of schools. The USTEC union, however, claimed participation had reached 70% across Catalonia, based on figures it collected up to 11am.

Tuesday’s walkout is the first of three Catalonia-wide strike days scheduled in the third term, with the next planned for 5 June. Additional regional strike days are also scheduled, and a further walkout in nursery schools has been called for 20 May.