Thousands of people are demonstrating in Madrid in defense of public education on the first day of the strike.

For an indefinite teachers' strike in non-university public centers in the Community of Madrid to be legally recognized and managed as such, no prior “authorization” is required, but a series of legal and administrative requirements must be met. If respected, the Administration must treat it as a legal strike (pay deductions, minimum services, etc.); if not, it risks being declared illegal.

1. Who can call it and particularities of the teaching staff

The right to strike (art. 28.2 CE) applies both to labor personnel and teaching civil servants, with adaptations derived from the Basic Statute of the Public Employee and the Constitutional Court jurisprudence.

• Authorized to call: the most representative unions at the state or regional level, unions with sufficient presence in Madrid's public education, works councils or staff boards (in the case of teaching civil servants, the Non-University Teaching Staff Boards) and, in certain cases, workers' assemblies that appoint a strike committee.
• Civil servants vs. labor personnel: civil servant teachers (teaching bodies) and educational labor personnel share the same basic framework (Royal Decree-Law 17/1977, Law on Trade Union Freedom and EBEP), but the employment relationship and disciplinary regime differ. In practice, the call is usually made by unions present in the Education Sectoral Boards and extends to both groups.

2. Prior notice and competent body

Royal Decree-Law 17/1977 requires written prior notice with a minimum advance, which for essential services rises to 10 calendar days. Public education is considered an essential service, so this is the period that prudently must be respected for an indefinite teachers' strike.

• Drafting and approval of the prior notice: the union or staff representation decides the strike in its competent body (committee, executive, assembly), approves the call text, and formally appoints the strike committee.
• Formal communication: in the Community of Madrid it must be sent to:
  • the regional labor authority (General Directorate competent in Labor / Employment); and
  • the affected Administration, usually the Ministry of Education (and, if applicable, other involved employer ministries).

3. Mandatory content of the communication

The prior notice must be very clear, especially when the strike is indefinite:

• Caller: identification of the union or staff representation calling the strike.
• Personal scope: affected groups (civil servant and labor teachers, teaching bodies, support staff if included).
• Territorial scope: entire Community of Madrid or specific Territorial Area Directorates or centers.
• Start date and time and indefinite nature of the strike.
• Specific reasons: professional, labor, organizational claims, etc., always linked to the service relationship.
• Strike committee: nominal identification and contact details of its members.
• Place for communications and negotiations with the Administration.

4. Minimum services and their challenge

In education, the Community of Madrid usually approves minimum services by order or resolution of the competent ministry, invoking the essential nature of the educational service.

• The Administration must justify that the minimums are proportional, limited to guaranteeing basic student care and safety in centers, not to empty the right to strike of content.
• Unions and the strike committee can challenge the minimum services before the contentious-administrative jurisdiction and request precautionary or urgent measures if they consider that the right to strike is violated.

5. Administrative management in DAT and centers

Once the prior notice is communicated, the Ministry and Territorial Area Directorates usually issue internal instructions:

• Centers inform the faculty and families about the existence of the strike and the established minimum services.
• Management organizes the coverage of minimum services by nominally designating the staff obliged to cover them.
• Participation control is kept (who supports the strike) for payroll purposes, usually through daily reports sent to the DAT.
• Communications with the strike committee are channeled for safety and basic center operation issues.

6. Risks of nullity or illegality

An indefinite teachers' strike can be declared illegal if:

• the minimum prior notice is not respected or it is not communicated to the labor authority and the employer Administration;
• the strike committee is not properly identified or is not in a position to negotiate;
• it has exclusively political objectives without connection to working conditions or the teaching function;
• attendance of non-strikers or compliance with the minimum services is prevented by coercion;
• abusive forms of strike are articulated (rotating stoppages, work-to-rule, etc.) that jurisprudence has considered contrary to the right to strike.

Taking care of these aspects in the Community of Madrid is key for the strike to be treated as legal, enjoy constitutional protection, and not expose its promoters and participants to disciplinary sanctions or liability claims.

According to Madrid's regional legislation, the competencies and functions of the Minister of Education of the Community of Madrid are determined at three main normative levels: the Statute of Autonomy, Law 1/1983 of December 13 on the Government and Administration of the Community of Madrid, and Decree 248/2023 of October 11 establishing the organic structure of the Ministry of Education, Science and Universities.

1. Statutory framework: educational competence of the Community of Madrid

The Statute of Autonomy (Organic Law 3/1983, February 25, amended by reform organic laws) recognizes the Community of Madrid:

• Legislative development and execution competence in education matters, "in all its extent, levels and grades, modalities and specialties," in accordance with article 27 of the Constitution and the organic laws that develop it, without prejudice to the competencies that article 149.1.30.a CE reserves to the State (article renumbered in the Statute, today linked to the former art. 30).
• The obligation to provide information to the State and collaborate in monitoring and evaluating the educational system (same statutory provision).

These provisions set the material framework in which the regional Government acts and, within it, the Ministry of Education: the Community designs and executes educational and university policy in its territory, within the limits of basic state regulations.

2. General functions of any regional minister (Law 1/1983)

Law 1/1983 establishes the regime of the regional Government and its members. The Statute defines the Government as the collegiate body that directs the Community's policy, exercises executive and administrative functions, and regulatory power in its own matters (article 21 of the Statute, included in section 23000-30500). Law 1/1983 develops this and, in particular, attributes to ministers:

• Participate in directing the Community's policy as members of the Government Council.
• Ensure compliance with laws and Assembly resolutions regarding their Ministry (article listing ministers' powers, section 30000-37500).
• Propose and present to the Government Council draft laws and decree projects related to their department and endorse decrees once approved.
• Propose appointments and dismissals of senior officials of their Ministry to be approved by the Government Council.
• Prepare and propose the action program of their Ministry, as well as the draft annual budget and the draft annual action program of the economic public sector as it affects them.
• Exercise superior leadership of personnel and services of the department: direct administrative activity, issue instructions and service orders, and coordinate general directorates and other management bodies (further development of article 41, visible in section 42000-49500).
• Approve and authorize expenses within the limits set by the Budget Law, order payments through the ministry competent in finance, and enter into contracts related to their matters, with legally required authorizations.
• Manage the assets assigned to their Ministry, decide on certain disposals within the limits established by the Budget Law, and exercise and desist from legal actions within their competencies, reporting to the Government Council.
• In general, all powers granted by applicable regulations.

Additionally, Law 1/1983 configures them as senior bodies of the regional Administration, subject to political responsibility before the Assembly through the Government Council and to the incompatibility regime for Executive members.

3. Specific competencies of the Minister of Education (Decree 248/2023)

Decree 248/2023 specifies the material scope of the Ministry of Education, Science and Universities. Its article 1 states that:

• The head of the Ministry has the competencies of article 41 of Law 1/1983 and other provisions in force; that is, all the general functions of any minister described above.
• As a senior body of the regional Administration, they are responsible for the general development, coordination, and control of the execution of Government policies in the areas of:
  • Non-university education.
  • Universities.
  • Artistic education.
  • Scientific research and technological innovation, with special reference to the digital context.

The organic structure provided in article 2 (Deputy Ministers of Educational Policy; Universities, Research and Science; and Educational Organization, general directorates and technical general secretariat) shows that the minister:

• Directs and coordinates the deputy ministries and general directorates responsible for curriculum, academic organization, network of centers, teaching staff, infrastructure, universities, research, and innovation.
• Promotes the development of regulations and plans in these areas (education organization, university policy, scholarships and aid, educational infrastructure policy, promotion of research and innovation).
• Politically represents the Community of Madrid in educational and university matters and exercises coordination and cooperation functions with the General State Administration and other administrations, based on the Statute and Law 1/1983.

In summary, the Madrid Minister of Education accumulates: the generic competencies of any member of the regional Government (delegated regulatory power, normative promotion, budget management, personnel and services direction, contracting and asset management) and the specific responsibility to design, coordinate, and execute the Community of Madrid's policy in education, universities, and research, within the constitutional and statutory distribution of competencies.

In the last decade, the Community of Madrid has appreciably increased its educational spending in absolute terms, but it remains below the Spanish average when measuring relative effort (percentage of GDP) and public spending per student, both in non-university education and, to a lesser extent, university education.

Evolution of spending in the Community of Madrid

According to data series from the Community of Madrid itself and the Public Spending in Education Statistics, Madrid's educational spending (educational administration plus other ministries) has risen from about 4.805 billion euros in 2013 to around 6.733 billion in 2022, representing an increase close to 40% in nominal terms over that period. The rise accelerates from 2017 and is reinforced by pandemic-related funds.

For 2023, Madrid's budget documentation records total education spending of around 7.370 billion euros, of which about 5.051 billion corresponds to non-university education and 2.079 billion to university education, plus about 240 million executed by other ministries. That is, Madrid has continued increasing resources year by year, in line with the general expansion of educational spending in Spain.

State context: general spending growth

Across Spain, the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports estimates public spending on education at 63.380 billion euros in 2022 (6% more than in 2021) and 67.9379 billion in 2023 (another 7% increase), according to official press releases from 2024 and 2025. Relative to GDP, state educational spending stood around 4.7% in 2022, maintaining a clearly higher proportion than that of the Community of Madrid.

Relative effort: percentage of regional GDP

The main difference of Madrid compared to other communities appears when educational effort is measured as percentage of regional GDP. Comparisons based on the Public Spending in Education Statistics indicate that:

• Around 2023, the Community of Madrid allocates approximately 2.4% of its GDP to education.
• The Spanish average is close to 4.6% of GDP.
• This difference of more than two percentage points places Madrid at the bottom of autonomous communities in relative effort, despite being one of the regions with the highest income.

This data should be read with caution: a very high per capita GDP means that, for the same spending in euros, the percentage of GDP is lower. However, the gap is wide enough to reflect comparatively low budgetary effort in education compared to most regions.

Public spending per student and ratios

Another way to compare investment is public spending per student in non-university public centers. Recent estimates place Madrid at about 4,744 euros per student in 2023, clearly below the national average and among the lowest figures in the country. This is a relevant indicator because it approximates the resources available per student, regardless of GDP size.

Additionally, data from the State Education Indicators System show that, while the Spanish average student-teacher ratio in non-university education is around 11.4, Madrid records one of the highest ratios in public centers (around 12.5 students per teacher). This does not directly equate to the number of students per classroom but suggests a relatively lower teaching staff allocation compared to other communities.

Comparison with other autonomous communities

The combination of these indicators paints a clear pattern:

• In absolute terms, Madrid is among the communities that spend the most on education by total volume, due to its population and economic size.
• In relative terms —percentage of GDP and public euros per non-university student— it is below the Spanish average and behind many communities with lower income, which allocate a higher proportion of their economy to the educational system.
• Organizations such as CCOO or Save the Children, in their reports, often highlight precisely this contrast between nominal growth of Madrid's budget and lower relative effort than other regions, especially in sensitive areas such as early childhood education, educational reinforcement, or reducing inequalities.

Conclusion

In the last ten years, the Community of Madrid's educational investment has grown steadily in current euros and has benefited, like the rest of the country, from the general increase in educational spending. However, comparison with other autonomous communities shows that Madrid maintains a low educational effort profile: it allocates one of the smallest proportions of its GDP to education and presents a public spending per non-university student below the national average. This suggests that, despite the budget increase, there is significant room to strengthen relative investment in education if convergence with the effort levels of other regions is desired.