The strike in public Education and the housing situation share the focus of this Thursday's Plenary in the Assembly of Madrid, in a session in which the creation of a study commission on the effect in the region of the halt of the known as 'grandchildren's law' is also expected to be approved.
Thousands of teachers and students gathered this Wednesday at Puerta del Sol to demand "quality" education and defend the demands that have led unions and associations of mothers and fathers to call for the strike: 600 euros more per month, reduction of ratios, and the elimination of the current bilingualism model to "stop educational segregation."
The protests began early with a temporary blockade of Paseo de la Castellana and with pickets at various university campuses. In these last ones, moments of tension were experienced that led to police charges, questioned by the left and by the organizers. The Government Delegation has requested an investigation to clarify what happened.
Meanwhile, the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, described the strike this Wednesday as "political" and accused the organizers of not "respecting the rights of children, of students, nor the work."
In the same line, the Minister of Education, Science, and Universities, Mercedes Zarzalejo, stated that the latest requests from the unions are "out of all logic and common sense."
Zarzalejo will appear this Thursday in the Plenary, at the initiative of Más Madrid, to explain the measures that the regional government plans to implement in order to "respond to the demands of the educational community that have led to calling a strike in public education." In a press conference, she already anticipated her position: "What we have to do is continue fulfilling the agreed, negotiated, and published agreement that is in force until 2028 and continue advancing in that professional career that the teachers have demanded and that we want to fulfill before the end of next year."
Housing returns to the center of the debate
Just as after the eviction of Maricarmen three weeks ago, housing will again occupy a good part of the parliamentary debate. It will be the focus of the question from Más Madrid to the president in the control session —focused on access to rental— and it will also appear in the question that the PP will formulate.
The Popular Group, which supports the regional Government, will focus on the economic repercussions in Madrid of the royal decree-laws approved by the central Executive a week ago. They are the second ones in just a month, after the first ones were rejected by Congress, which triggered the electoral advance. With the Chamber dissolved, it will now be the Permanent Deputation that votes on the new texts, with a different balance of power in which the support of Junts is no longer decisive.
Ayuso already warned last week that her Government will resort to "all available legal instruments" to safeguard "private property" if the Permanent Deputation validates these decrees.
The agenda also includes a Bill from Más Madrid —which will presumably fall due to the absolute majority of the PP— to prevent the Social Housing Agency (AVS) from executing evictions of vulnerable people without "adequate alternative"; a Non-Law Proposal from the PSOE that demands that all public housing stock, current and future, have permanent protection; and an interpellation from Vox regarding the housing policy of the Madrid Government.
Control session and legislative agenda
The day will start with the control session for Ayuso, in which, in addition to the questions about housing from Más Madrid and PP, Vox will inquire about the impact of migration on public services and the PSOE will ask about the institutional agenda of the president.
In the question round for the councilors, issues such as territorial inequality, the law on the unborn, advance payments, the situation of foreign students, the new vaccination campaign against Covid and flu, and the state of cultural infrastructures will be addressed, among other matters.
Subsequently, the amendments to the entirety presented by Más Madrid and PSOE to the Draft Law on Digital Administration and Artificial Intelligence will be debated, with which the regional Executive aims to regulate the use of new technologies and data.
According to the regional Government, the regulation seeks to establish a legal framework to "advance in the digital transformation of the region" and to organize the incorporation of new technological tools into public services "in a safe and responsible manner".
Study commission on the 'grandchildren's law'
After the Más Madrid initiative on evictions, the proposal from the PP to establish a study commission on the impact of the so-called "grandchildren's law" on the electoral roll of the Community of Madrid will be debated.
The Madrid PP has repeatedly warned that a third of the registrations in the CERA since October 2022 have been assigned to the Community of Madrid, more than 132,000 registrations, which represents an "increase of almost 40% of the external vote." They point out that in municipalities like Madarcos or Tres Cantos this incorporation significantly alters the census.
This Monday, the Supreme Court rejected the Government's appeal that requested lifting the precautionary suspension of the "grandchildren's law" and determined that those nationalized by that means will not be able to vote in the general elections on November 29, except for those who prove that their ancestors suffered exile.
In the final segment of the Plenary, Vox's interpellation on housing, the appearance of Zarzalejo, and the debate on the PNLs will take place, including the socialist one related to housing and another from the same group that proposes to transform the Industrial Plan into a "true program of productive industrial policy, guaranteeing sufficient, executable, and linked multi-year budget programming to specific objectives, with an execution calendar, responsible parties, and monitoring mechanisms."