Under the slogan "Healthcare is not for sale, it is defended," the demonstration brought together citizens, patients, and healthcare professionals who called for urgent improvements to the Andalusian health system. The main complaints focused on precariousness, privatization, and the need to reduce waiting times for consultations, diagnostic tests, and surgeries.
“"Our public healthcare is increasingly precarious. We demand an end to privatization and, ultimately, a reversal of this destruction. Furthermore, within a maximum period of 5 years, agreements with private clinics should be reversed, and waiting times should be adjusted to the law, both for primary care, which is set at 48 hours, or for diagnostic tests, 120 days, or for specialist appointments or surgical interventions, these times should be reduced. Waiting lists are killing the population without them even being attended to."
The march covered emblematic points of Málaga such as Plaza de la Marina, Muelle Heredia, Alameda de Colón, and Larios, culminating in Plaza de la Constitución with the reading of a manifesto. In addition to Marea Blanca, unions and opposition political parties, such as the PSOE, Por Andalucía (IU), and Adelante Andalucía, were present.
Among the testimonies collected, Miguel Frías shared the painful experience of losing his father to cancer after months of waiting for diagnoses and treatments. "It is incomprehensible that people's health is being played with," he lamented. Adela Sánchez, for her part, denounced the "death of Public Healthcare" and recounted her husband's seven-month wait for an urgent aneurysm operation. Ramón López, 74 years old and in a wheelchair, criticized having to pay for an MRI and treat a knee injury himself due to lack of attention.
The presence of healthcare professionals was notable. Ana Luque, a young nurse, denounced "precarious contracts" and the "privatization" evident in the offer of operations in private hospitals before public ones. Ángeles Arribas, a retired general practitioner, advocated for exclusive public management and adequate budget allocation, lamenting the "dismantling of healthcare" and primary care. Maribel, a nursing assistant, expressed her disappointment with the direction of healthcare, noting that long waiting times for diagnoses and referrals severely affect patients with chronic conditions.
