Barcelona was hit by fresh disruption on Friday, 5 June, when striking teachers blocked both directions of the Ronda Litoral near Zona Franca. The Servei Català de Trànsit said the protest caused a kilometre-long queue.
The teachers stopped traffic on the coastal ring road at about 10:30am. Before that, they occupied the lobby of the Department of Education and Vocational Training’s territorial services in Barcelonès, on Passeig de la Zona Franca, for nearly an hour.
Other groups of teachers also blocked the N-150 in Barberà del Vallès, the AP-7 between Montmeló and Montornès del Vallès, and the C-33 between Parets del Vallès and Mollet del Vallès, all in the Barcelona province. For ongoing coverage of related stories, see our news page.
The protesters called for the resignation of Education Minister Esther Niubó. They also want her to bring together the unions still involved in the mobilisation to negotiate a solution to the dispute. Friday’s action followed the rejection of a pre-agreement by teachers in a consultation organised by Ustec, CGT and Intersindical.
Separately, about 250 Catalan teachers blocked Plaça Espanya for 30 minutes, from 10:30am to 11am, as part of a joint demonstration. They gathered at the Venetian Towers with signs reading “Luchando también estamos educando” and chanted “Olele, olala, nos hacen falta condiciones para tener calidad”.
At 11am, they began marching towards Arc de Triomf to join other groups for the main unified protest. The strike was called by Ustec·Stes, CGT Ensenyament and La Intersindical. Aspepc·Sps, which had initially been a co-organiser, withdrew after signing the pre-agreement with the Department of Education.
