Dozens of hands worked in unison this morning at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Complutense University to create the posters with which on Wednesday and Thursday students and professors will ask the Community of Madrid for a greater budget for its six public universities. The defenseless people captured by Francisco de Goya May 3rd in Madrid (popularly known as The executions) In recent weeks it has united teachers and students from all Fine Arts courses, who have chosen this painting as the central motif of the imposing banner that will lead the two protest demonstrations.
“We are that man dressed in white, with our hands raised, who resists those who want to shoot us”, explains Sata García, Fine Arts teacher and coordinator of the race supported by almost 200 students and teachers. One of the two information pickets that will tour the University City will leave from the faculty early in the morning encouraging those who are undecided to join the protest. Especially those from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, the university with which Complutense shares a campus in the center of Madrid. “There is incredible student involvement, because the situation is so precarious at UCM, and in particular in our faculty, that we teachers have to take money out of our pockets to purchase certain materials or resources necessary to continue the lessons,” adds García.
Next to the teacher is Iker, 18 years old. He is one of the ideologues of Goya’s flag and explains how this protest helped him demonstrate the value of art as a driver of change. “We defend art with art, it’s very beautiful,” he explains. “Being part of this movement has made me see that what I learn here also has a very important social utility. This is why I want my classmates and I to continue to have access to a quality public university,” he reasons in front of a poster that reminds students that “this confinement is not a bottle,” but rather an event organized to fight for a common cause. “Don’t bring a drink. If you do, it will have to stay at the door.”
Raquel Monje, dean of the faculty, who was also present at the race, is proud to have students who are “as responsible, supportive and courageous” as those who are part of this movement. “It’s a real honor. They have worked for weeks on the banners that will carry the students of the six universities, they have organized this strike impeccably and on Friday at nine they will be in class”, he explains.
The UCM has been denouncing “an unbearable economic asphyxiation” for months with protests in various faculties. “Our main request is that the university budget reach 1% of the GDP of the Community of Madrid. Anything that is not a real approach to this horizon, we do not contemplate”, underlines García, as can also be read in the manifesto published by the coordination platform.
According to the first analyzes carried out by the UCM for Public platform, the budget increase for 2026 announced by the community represents a step from 0.44% to 0.46% of GDP. “We can’t even talk about an increase, but we find ourselves with a stagnant budget, and also in a context of underfunding,” they explain.
‘Merchandising’ for a resistance box
During the night confinement, the students continued to make stickers, t-shirts or underwear, among other products. merchandising. “What we want is to generate a resistance fund in case we have to go on an indefinite strike,” says Enma García, a 19-year-old student at the Faculty of Fine Arts, who has been very involved in the protests. “We try to generate visual materials that attract the attention of the media and people on social networks to publicize the dismantling we are experiencing,” he says.
The discomfort also passes, says Enma, because the price of public school fees in Madrid “has become unsustainable”. In other communities it is free if the member passes. “What we want is to continue studying in a dignified way and for university workers to also have dignified conditions,” he underlines.
To illustrate her complaint, the student gives some examples: people who work as models in Drawing or Sculpture work too many hours because they have to cover for others; There are teachers who take the absence of some classmates for granted so that students do not miss lessons, “since there is no possibility of hiring substitutes with this budget”; and departments have no funds to meet any unexpected expenses, no matter how minimal they may be. From July 2024, in fact, faculties have 35% less money to spend.
“We also had to pay for the white paint to cover the murals that the students of this subject painted last year, so we could do them ourselves,” Enma complains, adding that these types of costs were previously covered by the university. “The easels in my class are more than 30 years old, we cannot continue studying in those conditions; we have to buy many materials that were given to us in the faculty because they age or deteriorate”, he observes.
Enma’s words are shared by the rest of his classmates. In a few hours they will take to the field to defend the right to quality public education with their best weapon, art.
