The Madrid Region's Education Inspectorate (Inspección Educativa de la Comunidad de Madrid) pressures public schools to remove symbols of solidarity with Palestine
DATE
LOCATION
TARGETED PERSON/INSTITUTION
Teachers and heads of public schools; teachers' unions (CCOO, STES)
DOMAIN/FIELD
RESPONSIBLE FOR BAN
Madrid Regional Government (President Isabel Díaz Ayuso, PP); Regional Ministry of Education and Inspección Educativa de la Comunidad de Madrid
At the start of the school year in September 2025, heads of public primary and secondary schools in the Madrid Region reported visits and verbal instructions from the Education Inspectorate. These called for the removal of symbols of solidarity with Palestine (flags, placards, murals) and the suspension of planned workshops or discussions on the situation in Gaza.
On 17 September 2025, after the CCOO and STES unions went public, regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso denied that any written order to remove flags existed. She nonetheless defended the Inspectorate's interventions, calling for "indoctrination" and "politicisation" to be kept out of classrooms.
The unions denounce indirect censorship and a double standard compared with how the war in Ukraine was treated. In their view, the lack of formal instructions, combined with verbal pressure and the regional government's statements, encourages self-censorship among teaching staff. They have announced legal challenges.