The streets of Madrid filled with demonstrators, many of them wearing green T-shirts bearing the slogan "Public education for everyone, by everyone." The protest stretched from Atocha to Jacinto Benavente Square, with demands opposing increased teaching hours, the dismissal of temporary teachers and the deterioration of educational quality.
Among the Aragonese representatives was the then president of ANPE Aragón, Roberto Tierno, who defended preserving teaching jobs and warned of the risk that the cuts could reach the region. Although he acknowledged that similar measures had not yet been implemented in Aragon, he called for negotiations to prevent that from happening.
For his part, the then president of the CCOO Education Federation in Aragon, José Manuel Larrodera, warned that there were already worrying signs, such as some teachers not having their contracts renewed, the suspension of the Escuela 3.0 program and difficulties affecting adult education and reading promotion programs. He also called for the 2012 regional budget not to reduce investment in education.
Meanwhile, in Zaragoza, the then education minister, Dolores Serrat, assured that there would be no cuts in Aragon and described the demonstrations as "preventive." Her statements were challenged by the Socialist education spokesperson in the regional parliament, Mayte Pérez, who criticized the policies of the regional government then led by Luisa Fernanda Rudi.
The mobilization reflected the concern among Aragonese teachers about the education cutbacks taking place in other autonomous communities. That is how Aragón Digital reported it 15 years ago, in the original story about Aragonese participation in the Madrid demonstration.
