Spain, a model country for the Greek Left, is mired in scandals and the collapse of the system Healthcare.
Spain is reeling from scandals, the Spanish judiciary can’t keep up with cases involving former and current high-ranking officials of the Socialist Party; one case after another is being opened, sometimes involving the party president, sometimes the wife of the party secretary and prime minister, and sometimes former ministers who are already in the dock, or concerning the socialist former Prime Minister Zapatero and his ties to Venezuela.
As recently as May 27, Spanish police raided and searched the headquarters of the Socialist Party (PSOE) in Madrid pursuant to a court order, to collect, according to “El País” and other Spanish media outlets, “information regarding an illegal financing scheme.”
Here in Greece, the days are gone forever when Tsipras presented Spain to us as a model country, sent delegations to the elections to show support for Podemos, celebrated the election results, and told us that “the Iberian Peninsula is showing the way.”
That was when he was celebrating because Iglesias had finally agreed to support, after the April 2019 elections, a minority government led by Sánchez. ““Better late than never,” Mr. Tsipras had commented at the time.
As for the actual outcome of the 2019 Spanish elections, SYRIZA, led by Tsipras—that is, Tsipras himself—had said something that today, given what Tsipras of ELAS, turns out to be prophetic. In fact, not merely prophetic, but part of a future plan.
In their announcement (April 29, 2019), they spoke of the “great rise of the Socialist Party following its shift to the left and its rejection of neoliberalism.”
In the minds of Tsipras and Androulakis
This is more or less how Mr. Androulakis was “guided” in much the same way, to the point of believing that shifting to the left would boost his poll numbers.
The opposite happened—after all, we don’t have Basque separatists or Catalan secessionists here—so while he didn’t achieve his goal, Mr. Tsipras, however, achieved his own goal. He found himself (in the polls) in second place and is ready, after the elections—and in the event that New Democracy fails to secure a majority—to bring them all together for a minority government with a vote of tolerance.
For the time being, both Tsipras and Androulakis are now systematically avoiding any public statements regarding the situation in Spain.
Not because they are ashamed of their choices, but because in the back of their minds, the “example of Spain”— that is, the formation of minority governments, remains vivid and… guides them.
This, after all, is why the succession of Spanish scandals has been all but silenced in Greece. Otherwise, in public discourse, Spain is repeatedly cited as a country with… great achievements. Here I should point out that despite the (unholy) alliances and constant blackmail (the release of ETA terrorists in exchange for the Basques, a special tax regime for the Catalans), Spain cannot pass a budget and is operating under the one from… 2023.
This has caused major problems for the country’s economy and its ratings by international agencies, while the EU is insisting on seeing a passed budget. With the Spanish prime minister saying he will now bring the… 2026 budget to a vote. And with uncertain results.
Back when they were touting the Spanish model for healthcare to us
Meanwhile, the Tsipras-SYRIZA narrative on the healthcare sector has also collapsed. On June 9, 2023, that is, during the election campaign, when Tsipras was playing his last SYRIZA card, he gave a press conference on the economy and healthcare at the Zappeion.
At that press conference, sitting alongside Tsipras were Alexis Haritsis, Euclid Tsakalotos, Efi Achtsioglou, Athina Linou, and Dionysis Temboneras.
The main topic, as we mentioned, was healthcare, and they all answered questions together about the famous “seven-point, seven-step program for a just society and prosperity for all.” Now Tsipras has scaled it back to… five steps!
During the interview, Mr. Tsipras had complained that the program for utilizing the resources of the Health Recovery Fund “allots an absolutely minimal percentage of the Recovery Fund’s resources to public health—a mere 2%. Another 2% is allocated to infrastructure, which apparently includes hospital infrastructure. Meanwhile, in other countries in Southern Europe, the corresponding figures exceed 8% for health spending alone, not counting infrastructure.”
Shortly thereafter, Mr. Haritsis elaborated, resorting to his favorite “example of Spain.” As he noted, regarding the percentage of Recovery Fund resources allocated to health care, Spain’s share was more than double that of Greece— “nearly 9% for health care,” he told us.
One might therefore imagine that Spain has its health care issues all figured out. In fact, Mr. Tsipras and Mr. Haritsis could even claim that today.
The strikes have paralyzed the national health system
Unfortunately, however, Spain is not only rocked by scandals, but its healthcare sector has also been paralyzed.
Doctors’ strikes from December 2025 to the present have led to the cancellation of more than three million medical procedures. These are official figures provided by the autonomous regions, which accuse Health Minister Mónica García of intransigence in negotiations with healthcare workers.
Last week marked the fifth week of strikes in 2026, with regional governments in constant conflict with the Ministry of Health.
Spanish doctors are striking against the new legislative framework regulating working conditions in the National Health System, and it is considered certain that, after the summer break, the strikes will return with even greater intensity in the fall.
The figures are shocking, but I haven’t seen them reported anywhere in Greece, where from morning till night we hear endless talk about the health sector.
The terrifying numbers and the risk of bankruptcy
The Galician Health Service reported that 270,844 medical procedures have been canceled since the start of the strikes, including 5,758 surgical procedures, 156,168 hospital appointments, 91,365 primary care appointments, and 17,553 diagnostic tests.
Last week alone, approximately 150 surgeries and more than 7,000 daily appointments were canceled. The Autonomous Community’s Minister of Health, Antonio Gómez Caamano, warned that the impact on waiting lists would be “very significant” if the strikes resume after the summer.
In Cantabria, Health Minister César Pascual reported that 160,000 medical procedures have been canceled, and he, too, warned that an indefinite strike would lead to the bankruptcy of the National Health System.
In Extremadura, 300,000 medical procedures have been canceled since last December, while the situation is particularly critical in Andalusia, with 1.3 million medical procedures. In the Balearic Islands, 12,704 medical procedures have been canceled, and across the archipelago, the total number of cancellations reached 86,957, while in Castile and León, cancellations reached 43,181.
In Madrid, cancellations exceeded 300,000 (including 11,833 surgical procedures and 27,367 diagnostic tests), with the financial loss amounting to over 18 million euros in a single month and outpatient clinics having come to a standstill.
All of this has, of course, also caused administrative chaos, as health system services must reschedule appointments, with the biggest problem being the scheduling of surgeries. The strikes have been called by the largest medical unions, with doctors accusing the minister of… telling them one thing in 2016, when she was demonstrating alongside them!
24-hour on-call shifts, 90-hour workweeks
The reason Spanish doctors have been on strike for months—this is their largest strike in decades—is that the minister, who hails from the left-wing and environmentalist party Más Madrid, refuses to negotiate an end to the 24-hour on-call shifts and the 90-hour workweek.
What Spanish doctors are demanding is a work protocol, which, they say, has been in place for years in most European countries.
Union representatives, who have consistently called for strikes in 2026, from February through May, stating that they will resume in September, argue that a solution must be found before it is too late for the healthcare system.
“When doctors go on strike, it’s never good news,” they say.
With the strike committee deciding to escalate the protests, they are demanding—following the temporary suspension of the strikes—that progress be made in July and August. We’re talking about 175,000 doctors who say they’re on the verge of exhaustion.
This is for those here in Greece who insist on defaming our country and turn a blind eye when it comes to their like-minded colleagues.
And for those who believe a country can be governed without self-sufficient governments…
