800 Generalitat firefighters march in Barcelona

Around 800 Bombers de la Generalitat, Catalonia’s regional fire and rescue service, demonstrated in Barcelona on Friday, according to the Guàrdia Urbana municipal police force, demanding improved working conditions and resources to manage hazardous contaminants.

The march went from Plaça de Sant Jaume to the Department of Interior headquarters. For Barcelona and Catalonia residents, the unions say the dispute concerns the staffing, training and operational support available to crews responding to fires and other emergencies.

Firefighters used horns and pyrotechnics during the march. At the department building, Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalonia’s regional police force, guarded an entrance behind two barriers, while demonstrators set off smoke canisters and burned wooden pallets beside a banner bearing the names of colleagues who died while on duty.

Unions demand specialist support for contaminated equipment

Joan Vidal of the CGT union said the protest was not limited to pay. He called for more continuing training, a genuine support structure, management of contaminants and greater representation of women in the service.

“The administration’s latest contribution was to bring us hand soap and brushes.”Joan Vidal, CGT

Vidal said firefighters were cleaning contaminated equipment themselves, arguing that the task should be carried out by a specialist contractor or staff trained for that work. He described the lack of adequate protocols for smoke from fires and other dangerous substances as “quite serious”.

Daniel Sitjà, representing the Bombers Voluntaris Precaris en Lluita platform, said volunteers and paid staff alike needed workplace risk prevention measures. He said those protections could not be separated from employment rights.

Negotiations for 2027–2030 begin

The first meeting on working conditions for 2027–2030 was held inside the Interior Department during the demonstration, according to the Direcció General de Prevenció, Extinció d’Incendis i Salvaments (DGPEIS), the Generalitat directorate responsible for fire prevention, firefighting and rescue.

The DGPEIS said it had maintained an offer to raise overtime pay by 20%.
It referred to a contaminants-management plan presented on 10 September, with a budget of more than €50 million.
It asked unions to reduce pressure measures, particularly those affecting the Institut de Seguretat Pública de Catalunya, the public-safety training institute, so planned recruitment increases can proceed.

Antonio del Río, a UGT union representative and fire-service sergeant, said the Generalitat should meet agreements due to be fulfilled by 2026. He said some fire stations operated with three firefighters on duty, the training school was overstretched and on strike, and the service lacked its own practical training site.

Del Río called for a joint Catalan emergency body bringing together Barcelona firefighters, Generalitat firefighters, Civil Protection and the emergency medical system. He said residents should not receive a different emergency response depending on which service attends an incident.

After the meeting, a union delegate said talks had started “very badly” but improved during the discussion. The delegate said the department had proposed matching the minimum salary of Barcelona firefighters while extending working hours, an offer the group rejected, and described the proposal on contaminants as imprecise.

Reported by cope.es.