La Rioja sets minimum services in view of the indefinite medical strike starting November 16

The Regional Ministry of Finance, Public Governance, Digital Society and Government Spokesperson of La Rioja has approved the minimum services that doctors of the Riojan public health system must maintain during the indefinite strike called by the United Doctors Union (SMU). The measure is detailed in Resolution 2822/2026, published in the Official Gazette of La Rioja number 220, dated November 13, 2026, with official reference BOR-A-20261113-III–4333, and was signed in Logroño on November 12 by the regional minister Alfonso Domínguez Simón. The first phase of the strike begins at 08:00 hours on Monday, November 16.

State-wide call with first phase until November 28

The notice was submitted on November 5, 2026, by the United Doctors Union and affects all medical personnel of the National Health System, including personnel in training under the residency system. The call, which is state-wide in scope, was presented to the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy, the Ministry of Health, the health services of the autonomous communities, and the National Institute of Health Management (INGESA), and was forwarded to the Regional Ministry of Economy, Innovation, Business and Self-Employment of La Rioja.

The strike is indefinite in nature and envisions a total cessation of activity, carried out in phases. The first extends from 08:00 hours on Monday, November 16, until 08:00 hours on Saturday, November 28, 2026. The date and duration of each subsequent phase will be communicated to the labor authority and employers with a minimum notice of ten calendar days, in accordance with Article 4 of Royal Decree-Law 17/1977, of March 4. The strike will be maintained until its cancellation by the union’s board of directors.

The territorial scope includes the health services of seventeen autonomous communities—including La Rioja—and the centers managed by INGESA in Ceuta and Melilla. The resolution invokes Article 28.2 of the Spanish Constitution and Article 10 of Royal Decree-Law 17/1977 to establish the minimums, and is supported by Article 14.2.o) of Law 9/2023, of May 5, on the Riojan public service, and Article 17.l) of Decree 51/2023, of July 14. The competence was delegated by the Government Council Agreement of December 3, 2024, published in the BOR on December 4, 2024.

Negotiation with the strike committee and union disagreement

The General Directorate of Public Service formally summoned the union organization and submitted a proposal for minimum services for the Riojan Health Service (SERIS). The strike committee met on November 10, 2026, and following that meeting, the Administration sent a justifying report dated November 10, 2026, regarding the healthcare activity of the hospital centers, along with a second proposal that introduced corrections for the Calahorra Hospital.

The union responded with a formal communication of disagreement with the new proposal and its corresponding justification, as recorded in the resolution itself.

San Pedro and Calahorra Hospitals: reinforcements in emergencies and on-call shifts

The annex details the minimum physicians per service. In the San Pedro University Hospital and its centers, the following stand out:

• Anesthesia: 17 doctors; Gynecology: 12; Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Radiology: 11 each.
• Cardiology, General Surgery, COT, and Internal Medicine: 10 each.
• ICU and Emergencies: essential service with 100% of the usual staff.
• Specialties with a single physician: Plastic Surgery, Thoracic Surgery, Immunology, Maxillofacial, Occupational Medicine, Preventive Medicine, and Transplant Coordinator.

In the Calahorra Hospital, on-call shifts and working morning shifts are established: Emergencies will have 2 on-call doctors and 4 on the morning shift; Internal Medicine, 1 and 5; General Surgery and Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1 and 4; Pediatrics, 1 and 3. Medical residents will cover 50% of the staff on working day morning shifts, while on-call doctors will maintain 100% of the staff in all hospital care centers.

Primary Care, 061, and Rioja Salud Foundation

In Primary Care, two Family and Community Medicine physicians are assigned to the morning shift (08:00 to 15:00) in centers such as Cervera, Alfaro, Calahorra, Arnedo, Murillo, Alberite, Navarrete, Nájera, Santo Domingo, and Haro, and two in the morning plus one in the afternoon (14:00 to 21:00) in the urban centers La Villanueva, La Guindalera, Joaquín Elizalde, Espartero, Labradores, Gonzalo de Berceo, Siete Infantes, and Cascajos; most include one morning pediatrician.

• Primary Care Emergency Services: 100% of on-call staff.
• 061: in Logroño, one USVA ambulance with a doctor 24 hours a day and another with a doctor 12 hours a day; in Haro and Calahorra, one USVA with a doctor 24 hours a day; the coordinating center, with 2 doctors on the day shift and 2 on the night shift.
• Fundación Rioja Salud: Blood Bank (1 collection doctor and 1 hematologist in the morning), Radiotherapeutic Oncology (2 and 1), Nuclear Medicine (2 and 1), Palliative and Home Care (1 ward doctor and 3 home care doctors) and Virology Laboratory (1 virologist).

The resolution affects thousands of Riojan patients who depend on public healthcare: the minimums guarantee emergencies, on-call services, and primary care at 100% in the services declared essential, but the rest of the healthcare activity is conditioned by a strike of indefinite duration that the union has announced in phases.

Source: Official Gazette of La Rioja, no. 220, of November 13, 2026, section III. Other Provisions and Acts, page 19252 (official reference: BOR-A-20261113-III–4333).