After the preliminary agreement on Friday night between the majority unions and Education, teachers are called from this Monday to express their opinion on the pact, which foresees a gross monthly salary increase of 450 euros over four years. The consultation, which has been sent to teachers' corporate email, started at 12 noon and will last until Thursday at the same time. By 8 p.m. on the first day, more than 17,000 teachers out of a census of 94,490 had participated, 18%. Teachers must vote whether to accept the agreement, as proposed by USTEC, or to continue with the strikes planned until the summer holidays, the option defended by CGT, Intersindical and COS. In fact, these three unions have promoted new actions. This very Monday, about 200 teachers carried out a slow march in Montserrat and occupied the atrium of the Basilica of Santa Maria de Montserrat to hold an assembly and debate the preliminary agreement with Education. It is an unusual image, as a demonstration had never entered this space before. Around four in the afternoon, they ended the protest. In parallel, tonight about 300 teachers have set up a camp in front of the Territorial Services of Education in Girona and, later, organized a debate on the preliminary agreement, called by the Coordinator of Educational Assemblies.

The Minister of Education and Professional Training, Esther Niubó, speaks to ARA a few hours after the signing of the pre-agreement between her department and the majority unions in the sector after eight negotiation meetings.

Applause and silence. After twelve hours of negotiation and up to eight meetings between the Department of Education and unions, the person in charge of delivering the good news was none other than one of the building's security guards. "I think so...", he said hesitantly, when journalists approached him as he left the room where the Minister of Education, Esther Niubó, and the unions were negotiating. After 16 days of strike this course, finally, the majority unions and Education have reached an agreement, which will now have to receive the endorsement of teachers in a consultation.

The key day of the negotiations between Education and unions has ended in a complete breakdown. After a meeting –the seventh– that lasted more than six hours, the unions locked themselves inside the department and demanded that the Minister of Education, Esther Niubó, intervene in the negotiations. A few minutes later, at a quarter to ten at night, Niubó, who was already in the building, appeared and entered to speak with the union representatives, but only stayed for a few minutes. Union sources indicate that she asked them to "reflect" and urged them to talk on Friday at 10 a.m. In response, the unions calling the strike –USTEC, Professors of Secondary Education, CGT, and Intersindical– have assured that they will spend the night at the department. Furthermore, they have called for a demonstration in front of the ministry, where about ten people have gathered.

The sixth meeting between education unions and the Government has ended, once again, without an agreement after a session that lasted more than three hours. Although the Department of Education made a salary offer that would mean, in four years, teachers earning about 355 euros more per month than now, the unions have considered the proposal insufficient and have dug in their heels against the Government also regarding staff reinforcements aimed at improving inclusive education.

The Government and education unions seem to be starting to understand each other after the in extremis meeting this Tuesday, a few hours before the new strike day, which remains for this Wednesday despite the -discreet- progress in negotiations. "Finally, we are speaking the same language with the Department of Education. We have been able to talk within the framework of the salary proposal we sent a few days ago," celebrated USTEC spokesperson Iolanda Segura upon leaving the meeting. From the Government, the Secretary of Educational Improvement of the Department of Education, Ignasi Giménez, has noted a "significant rapprochement" with the unions and explained that, among other things, the Department of Education has put on the table a new salary supplement of around 40 euros that would be linear, meaning it would reach all teachers, and would be collected this same year. "It doesn't reach 40 euros," admitted Giménez, who explained that they are studying if it could be extended over the years. For now, at this time, this offer would represent an investment of around 80 million euros.

The pilot plan to place agents of the Mossos d'Esquadra in Catalan schools has not been well received. It has been rejected by educational unions, but also by the majority of the centers where it was planned to be implemented.The trial has also generated internal criticism within the Catalan police regarding the way it has been designed and communicated. Among the few centers that have agreed to be part of the pilot plan, some are located in El Prat de Llobregat. In fact, sources consulted by ARA admit that, when the plan began to be considered, certain centers in this municipality were used as an example to justify the trial, although the list of schools and institutes for the pilot plan was provided by the Department of Education.

New –and third– consecutive key day on Barcelona's Via Augusta. This Friday at noon, education unions met again with a new proposal from the Department of Education on the table, but the meeting did not end with an agreement and positions have moved further apart again. However, the Government and trade union organizations will meet again on Tuesday. Upon leaving the meeting, the spokesperson for USTEC, Iolanda Segura, said that the proposal presented to them by the department "is not an acceptable proposal" and that they had already rejected it. Segura complained that the offer had not been framed within the negotiation framework that the unions presented on Thursday and once again issued an ultimatum:

New meeting between the unions and the Department of Education ends without agreement, but with an insistence on continuing negotiations the next day. This Thursday, however, on the Government's table was the counter-proposal presented in a unified manner by the majority union USTEC, together with Secondary School Teachers – who did not attend – and the CGT. A document with which the union organizations ask Education to update salaries according to the CPI and to approve a progressive supplement for the entire collective so that, in 2029, teachers will earn 478 euros more per month and secondary school teachers, 544 euros more.

New incident with a firearm in Barcelona. This afternoon a man died in a shooting in the Marina del Port neighborhood, in the Sants-Montjuïc district of the Catalan capital. Police sources have confirmed to ARA that the man died from gunshots and that initial indications point to an execution, although the facts are still being investigated. Some witnesses consulted also claim that around half past seven in the evening they heard up to four shots in the area of Carrer de la Mineria, in front of a fruit shop.

Key day in the education sector. This Wednesday afternoon, the Catalan Government and the Education unions will meet —except for Secondary School Teachers, who have confirmed they will not attend the meeting— to negotiate and see if they can reach an agreement to call off the two weeks of protests in public schools that USTEC, Secondary School Teachers, CGT, and La Intersindical are still maintaining. On the table, they will have a proposal from the department led by the minister Esther Niubó that includes an advance of the salary increase agreed with UGT and CCOO, more money for tutoring supplements, and a reinforcement of staff for inclusive education. A proposal that USTEC and CGT have already warned they see as "insufficient" and do not consider "dignified".the commitment that teachers earn 3,000 euros gross more per year than now. Still regarding salaries, the ministry proposes to "address the pay improvement" through three supplements: for tutoring, co-tutoring, and tutoring in centers of maximum complexity. However, the Government does not specify what the pay increase for these tasks could be, stating that "the specific amounts for each supplement will be subject to negotiation in the plenary sessions scheduled in the calendar".a proposal from the departmentA negotiation calendar

This afternoon, the Department of Education has sent its proposal for negotiation to the unions. As detailed in the document made public by CGT and USTEC, the Government will put on the table the option of advancing by one year the already agreed salary increase and the possibility of making a "remuneration improvement" through the bonuses that teachers receive for being responsible for tutoring. Although sources from Education insist that they will not explain or confirm the details of the proposal until after the meeting with the unions, CGT and USTEC have sent the same working document to the press with the Department of Education's watermark.

"Madam Minister, this unease is neither new nor isolated. That is why, when education professionals mobilize, they are not just defending working conditions. They are defending time and resources to support students, the educational and emotional attention that children need, and the possibility of sustaining a quality public school." This is a fragment from the letter that Affac – an organization representing 2,400 parent associations of public schools and institutes – has sent to the Minister of Education Esther Niubó. Affac sent it this Monday during a new strike day in the education sector, in which teachers blocked the entrance to Sagrada Familia for two hours as part of the protests in Barcelona and Barcelonès.

At the beginning of March, around 100,000 families across Catalonia were awaiting a procedure: deciding which school or institute they would choose for their children to begin a new educational stage. The deadline for this process opened on March 4th for Infantil 3 (I3), and on March 6th for 1st year of ESO, exactly three weeks after the first general strike of the year in the Catalan public education sector. A strike that four out of ten teachers supported, according to the Government's assessment, and 85% according to the organizing unions. The coincidence between the crisis in the education sector and the opening of school pre-enrollments could have led to public schools being disadvantaged in the choice, but the data does not show a negative impact; quite the contrary.

New firearm incident in Barcelona. This afternoon a man died in a shooting in the Marina del Port neighborhood, in the Sants-Montjuïc district of the Catalan capital. Police sources have confirmed to l'ARA that the man died from gunshots. Some witnesses consulted also claim that around half past seven in the evening they heard up to four shots in the area of Carrer de la Mineria, in front of a fruit shop. The Mossos have moved to the scene of the incident

Recover purchasing power and a shock plan to strengthen inclusive education. These are the two "main immediate priorities" of the negotiation framework that USTEC – the majority union in the education sector – has submitted to the Government with the aim of "unblocking the educational conflict". In a statement made public the day before the meeting between the Ministry of Education and the union forces, USTEC proposes a dozen measures focused on inclusive education and recalls that 40% of students have specific educational support needs, mostly for socioeconomic reasons. "Without a shock plan to strengthen staff and inclusive education, there will be no agreement," it assures. It also insists that "any proposal" will have to be ratified by the collective in a consultation and that it will not endorse any agreement "behind the backs of the centers or without the direct validation of the people who have sustained the mobilization".

L'ARA interviews Iolanda Segura, spokesperson for USTEC, a few hours before the general strike in the Catalan education sector begins and after the controversies over the infiltration of two Mossos d'Esquadra agents at a teachers' assembly and the pilot test that plans to integrate an undercover agent in some centers to improve coexistence.

Notable news in the university entrance exams that will be held next month: for the first time, detectors will be used to prevent students from cheating on the PAU using electronic devices. As explained in a circular from the Interuniversity Council of Catalonia, which has been sent to the institutes, in the exams to be held on June 9, 10, and 11, "the organization may use electronic device detectors during the test."

Important change in the awarding of teaching positions for the next academic year. The Department of Education has modified the resolution that set the criteria for determining the distribution of vacant positions in schools and institutes among teachers and professors for the 2026-2027 academic year. As ARA has been able to confirm, the novelty is that, unlike what was specified in the initial resolution, next academic year principals will be able to make continuity proposals for interim teachers. That is, a principal can propose that an interim teacher who is already at their school can continue teaching in the same school or institute for the next academic year.

First confirmations from the Government regarding educational centers that have requested to withdraw from the pilot plan that contemplated sending a plainclothes Mossos d'Esquadra officer to the centers to improve coexistence. Sources from the Department of Education have confirmed that the ministry has received the formal request from two centers not to participate in the pilot project for school coexistence. They are a center in l'Hospitalet de Llobregat and another in Tàrrega. In parallel, however, the ministry has informed that the pilot plan will add a new center in Baix Llobregat that has asked the Government to join. Therefore, despite criticism of the measure and requests from some faculty meetings to abandon the plan, at this time the program will go from having 14 centers to having 13 participants.