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Thousands protest in Spain’s Andalusia in defence of public health services

Thousands of protestors took to the streets across Andalusia in defence of public health services on Saturday, demanding a stop to the deterioration of public services and slow privatisation of the region's healthcare system.

Published: 28 November 2022 09:34 CET
Thousands protest in Spain's Andalusia in defence of public health services
The protests come just weeks after thousands took to the streets in Madrid in defence of the capital's public healthcare services.(Photo by PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP)

Thousands of people demonstrated in several cities across Andalusia in defence of public health services on Saturday.

The main demonstration was held in Seville, the southern region’s capital, where police say 4,000 people took part. Organisers of the protest put the figure at 20,000.

Up to 400 protesters took to the streets in Cádiz, and around a thousand in Granada, though police claim there were just 200.

Protestors demanded the regularisation of 12,000 “false contracts” given to doctors in the Andalusian Health Service (SAS) who arrived as reinforcements during the pandemic, as well as face-to-face care within 48 hours of requesting an appointment, 12 minutes of care per patient, and the boosting of rural emergency and preventive community care.

READ ALSO: Why Spain is running out of doctors

A spokesman for the event, retired doctor Sebastián Martín, highlighted the support “as never seen before” and pointed out that there are around 2.5 million private health policies in Andalusia, adding that “it is important that civil society stands up to them.”

Adelante Andalucía representative Maribel Mora stressed that “we have to defend public health care whoever governs,” criticising “the deterioration of health care over many years” and adding that “now much more money is going to private health care.”

Toni Valero, spokesmen for the leftist grouping of parties IULV-CA called on the Andalusian president Juanma Moreno to “take note” of the “success” of the demonstration and that Andalusian society had clearly “had enough.”

The protests come just weeks after thousands took to the streets in Madrid in defence of the capital’s public healthcare services.

READ ALSO: Thousands rally in defence of Madrid public healthcare

In Granada, the PSOE health spokesperson in the Andalusian parliament, María Ángeles Prieto, stated that public healthcare “can no longer cope” and that was why thousands of Andalusians have taken to the streets. Prieto demanded the regional government invest in public health and asked Moreno to stop the steady privatisation process and stop “transferring” money from the public to the private sector “so that some people can do business.”

However, Regional Minister of Health Catalina García has denied that there is a “progressive deterioration” in Andalusian healthcare.

She stressed improvements in the last four years, including a supposed 30,000 more professionals in the health sector. “The Andalusian health system, according to objective data, is better than it was four years ago. That is undeniable,” she claimed in a statement.

According to the García, the lack of medical professionals in a national problem affecting health systems in all regions of Spain.

READ ALSO: What is the average waiting time across Spain to see a doctor?

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IMMIGRATION

Migrant influx fuels debate in Spain over illegal migration

A steep rise in the number of arrivals of migrants in Spain's Canary Islands from Africa has fuelled a fierce debate in the country over how to tackle illegal immigration.

Published: 31 August 2024 13:57 CEST
Migrant influx fuels debate in Spain over illegal migration

The issue was thrust into the spotlight during a three-day visit by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to West Africa which wrapped up Thursday.

The trip was aimed at curbing the record number of unauthorised migrants arriving in the Atlantic archipelago in search of a better life in Europe.

“Spain is committed to safe, orderly and regular migration,” the Socialist premier said soon after he arrived Tuesday in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, in the first stop of his tour which also included Gambia and Senegal.

He called for “circular migration” schemes which allow people to enter Spain legally to work for a limited time in sectors like agriculture, which face labour shortages during harvest time, before returning home.

READ ALSO: Mauritania and Spain pledge cooperation on migration

“Immigration is not a problem, it is a necessity that comes with certain problems,” Sánchez said.

His comments were immediately blasted by Spain’s main opposition Popular Party (PP), which said the statements would encourage more migrants to try to enter the country illegally at a time when the Canary Islands is struggling to cope with an influx of migrants.

Nearly every day, Spain’s coastguard rescues a boat carrying dozens of African migrants towards the seven-island archipelago located off the northwest coast of Africa.

Over 22,000 migrants have landed in the Canary Islands so far this year, compared to just under 10,000 during the same time last year.

The archipelago received a record 39,910 migrants in 2023, a figure it is on track to surpass this year.

‘Irresponsible’

“It is irresponsible to encourage a pull effect in the worst irregular migration crisis,” PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo​ said, accusing Sánchez of going to Africa to “promote Spain as a destination” for migrants.

This is “the opposite” of what other nations in the European Union are doing, he added.

During the final leg of Sánchez’s tour in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, he appeared to take a harder tone by stressing that human trafficking rings that organise boat crossings to Spain sometimes have links to terrorist networks or drug smuggling gangs.

He said security was a “top priority” and said it is “essential to return those who have come to Spain illegally”.

Deportations, however, require the agreement of the country of origin of a migrant, which is not easy to get.

‘Contradictory’

Cristina Monge, a political scientist at the University of Zaragoza, said Sánchez had tried to strike a balance in his comments on the issue in Africa but his message was “a bit contradictory”.

His first speech in Mauritania came “from a European, human rights perspective” but when he talked about the need for deportations the support “he gains on the right, he loses on the left,” she told AFP.

While the PP welcomed Sánchez’s sudden emphasis on security, hard-left party Sumar — the junior coalition partners in his minority government — immediately opposed it.

“Following the same migration recipes called for by the right is a failure and a mistake,” Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz, who founded Sumar, wrote on X.

With the number of crossing attempts expected to increase further in the coming weeks as Atlantic waters become calmer, the controversy is expected to intensify, especially since the PP has hardened its position on the issue in recent years in response to the rise of far-right party Vox which is hostile to immigration.

The Spanish government estimates there are some 200,000 people in Mauritania waiting to go to the Canaries. The bulk of them are from Mali where a military regime is battling an Islamist insurgency.

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