Hundreds of thousands of health workers took to the streets of Madrid on Sunday for the largest demonstration yet against the conservative regional government’s mismanagement of the public healthcare system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than 250,000 people flooded the city center, according to the central Spanish government, chanting vociferous slogans and carrying signs with messages in Spanish reading \u201cThe right to health is a human right. Defend the health service.\u201d The regional government said 250,000 took part in the march, but organizers put the number at closer to one million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The protest was led by health worker associations and supported by left-wing parties, unions and ordinary citizens. Protesters said the conservative Madrid government was dismantling the capital city’s public health services in favor of private health providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They have cut our wages instead of raising them. We are overwhelmed with work and do not have any support. We are in danger of extinction,” Lilian Ramis, 61, a matron at the El Molar health center in Madrid, was quoted as saying by Reuters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These groups have stormed streets on a regular basis in recent months, and their movement is growing in numbers. Sunday’s demonstration was the largest protest yet against the regional government\u2019s mismanagement of healthcare services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thousands of health workers also staged a protest in Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, calling for the preservation of the public health system. Police put the number of protesters at 20,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Isabel Diaz Ayuso, the right-wing leader of the Madrid regional government, denied accusations, saying in a tweet on Saturday: “We all believe in public health.” Critics of her government say Ayuso’s administration produces long waits for patients and overworked doctors and nurses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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