Over 3,000 people in white coats held a protest march in the capital to demand a special law on the status of the medical profession, BNR reported.
The doctors are demanding a reduction in the maximum weekly working hours and better conditions for on-call work. They are also demanding fair retirement provisions that allow early and partial voluntary retirement without financial losses. This is the third demonstration under the slogan “For a special status for doctors and medical specialists“. If their demands are not met, the medics will effectively strike from December 9 to 12.
In Barcelona, around 8,500 workers in the education system protested demanding a salary increase. They demanded a reduced student-teacher ratio, more teachers and specialists to support students with special needs, and a reduction in bureaucracy. This is the first united educational demonstration that the regional government of Salvador Illa has faced, and it is supported by all unions, both public and private, teachers' platforms and parents' associations.
The government of Catalonia has announced new measures to revitalize rural areas in the region. Direct investments and tax breaks for young families are planned.
The government will allocate 20 million euros for the purchase of 100 social housing units in municipalities with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants. This was announced by the Catalan Prime Minister Salvador Illa at a meeting with the mayors of 300 towns. Before them, he presented the measures identified by his cabinet to tackle depopulation.
One of them is to promote the rehabilitation of vacant homes in small municipalities to turn them into affordable rental housing. These can be uninhabited private homes or abandoned municipal buildings. For this purpose, the Housing Agency will allocate 5 million euros per year.
In addition, a new package of tax breaks is planned, intended primarily for people under 35 or families with children. Some of them are a reduction in the property transfer rate to 4%, a 75% discount on notary fees and relief of up to 20% of personal income tax for moving, purchasing, renovating and renting housing.