While the Andalusian PP closed its XVII regional Congress, which has re-elected Juanma Moreno as president with more than 99.9% support, thousands of people demonstrated in the eight provinces of Andalusia, in front of the delegations of the Junta, due to the “very serious” failures in breast cancer screening that have unleashed the worst political crisis of the Moreno Bonilla Government in seven years.
Thousands of people demonstrated this Sunday in the eight Andalusian provinces in a rally in defense of public health called by the Marea Blanca and with the support of the majority unions UGT and Workers' Commissions. The protesters, under the motto 'In defense of our Public Health', have demanded the resignation of the president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, shouting “Moreno, listen, the people are in the fight.”
Political leaders such as the deputy secretary general of the PSOE-A, María Márquez, and the spokesperson for Adelante Andalucía, José Ignacio García, attended the Seville rally. In the case of Malaga, the deputy and General Coordinator of IU Andalucía, Toni Valero, was present. Their formations have joined the protests against failures in breast cancer screening and against the “privatization” of the Andalusian health system.
In the case of Córdoba, a massive demonstration of more than 5,000 peopleaccording to the organizers, has filled the streets of the city center with messages against the dismantling of the public health system, the lack of staff and waiting lists. Furthermore, they have criticized the “mistreatment” of health professionals and cries have been heard against the Andalusian president: “Moreno Bonilla, we want more staff”, “The waiting lists condemn us to death” or “I don't want your forgiveness, Bonilla resigns”.
The union organizations Satse and CSIF Andalucía have finally decided not to participate in this rally due to “disagreements” with its organization. Despite this, they wanted to highlight that they share “many of the demands” and concern about the “delicate current state of public health.”
The manifesto with which this protest was called indicated that Andalusian healthcare is going through a “serious crisis”, marked by “a widespread and planned deterioration” of the public service, and that this is manifested in “scandals such as the errors of the breast cancer early detection program, with serious consequences for many women.”
The organizers insist that this “scandal” is nothing more than “the tip of the iceberg of the deterioration of Andalusian public health”, which exemplifies “the failure of the Andalusian Government's health policy”.