The spark has ignited in the most vulnerable stage of Madrid’s education system. Early childhood educators in preschools for children aged 0 to 3 have launched an indefinite strike throughout the Community of Madrid to protest that they are supporting early childhood education with impossible student-teacher ratios, frozen salaries, and an overload of work and bureaucracy that, they warn, “jeopardizes the quality of care and the future of the sector.”
The strike affects all centers providing the first cycle of Early Childhood Education (ages 0–3): directly managed public schools, indirectly managed centers (subsidized through concessions), and private daycare centers participating in the voucher system or receiving subsidized spots. The call for action comes from the Early Childhood Education Labor Platform (PLEI) and the CGT union, which have called for an indefinite strike starting April 7; UGT has called for a 24-hour strike, and CCOO supports the protests.
The Community of Madrid has established minimum services requiring the mandatory presence of one director per center and at least one teacher or educator for every 12 infants and 18 children up to age 2, in addition to maintaining cafeteria and cleaning services in schools that have them. The organizers describe these minimums as “abusive” because, in practice, they make it difficult for the closure to be visible and shift some of the pressure onto the staff who do show up for work.
“We don’t just watch over children—we educate them”: staff-to-child ratios at the heart of the conflict
If there is one issue that appears on every banner, it is that of staff-to-child ratios: how many children a single educator can care for. The organizers point out that, under the Community of Madrid’s minimum staffing regulations, the daily reality is this:
- 1 caregiver for every 8 infants (0–1 years).
- 1 educator for every 13–14 children aged 1–2.
- 1 caregiver for every 20 children aged 2–3.
The PLEI is calling for a drastic reduction in staff-to-child ratios, in line with the early childhood care standards established by early childhood experts:
- 3 babies per caregiver.
- 5 children aged 1–2 per educator.
- 6 children aged 2–3 per educator.
The goal, they insist, is to move from a model of “macro-classrooms” where staff survive on sheer professional skill, to a system in which individualized care, bonding, and play are given the time they require during a key stage of cognitive and emotional development.
Wages that don’t rise: the other major issue
The second major battle is over wages. Most 0–3-year-old preschools in Madrid operate under indirect management: the administration contracts the service to private companies through public tenders (bidding documents), which set the price per spot and the margins from which salaries and expenses are then paid.
In 2025, a new sector-wide agreement was signed that improved the salary scales, but workers claim that these increases are not being applied in the Madrid network because the current contracts do not reflect these updated costs. In practice, the real base salary has barely risen from around 1,210 to 1,221 euros, due to the statutory increases in the minimum wage. The agreement would set that base salary above 1,400 euros, but that improvement does not materialize because the minimum wage increase “absorbs” existing supplements and bonuses.
In addition to a higher base salary, the group is demanding:
- Specific allowances (hazard pay, liability, tutoring, etc.).
- 5 non-instructional hours per week for lesson planning and documentation, as in the 3–6 age group.
- Full recognition of their professional status as educators, rather than as care or administrative staff.
- A work schedule comparable to that of other educational stages.
Meanwhile, many families find themselves caught in the middle with no clear work-life balance solution and are forced to reorganize work schedules, grandparents’ availability, and shifts for the duration of the conflict. The educators acknowledge the hardship, but argue that improving staff-to-child ratios and wages is not merely a labor issue, but a direct investment in the quality of education and care children receive during their first three years of life.