Passion and emotion flooded the Plaza de la Constitution in Torrevieja on Thursday, when at least 750 people joined in a protest against government cuts in education.

As parents, teachers and youngsters started to converge on the square, the amount of support they received was overwhelming to some of those who witnessed people of all ages, background and nationality coming together in support for the most important thing that any of us can have in our lives, the basic and human right to education.

As drums and cowbells were struck and horns and whistles were blown, the protesters carried banners stating that they want less corruption and more education and that there should be less money spent on things like new airports and bailing out theme parks, which would allow more funding for the education system. Indeed, there were even calls to stop the expense of war and comparisons of how much money is spent each year on global military operations, compared to how little is spent on fundamental, domestic needs.

As the numbers started to swell, a coffin was carried around the square, symbolising the death of public education. Albeit symbolic, it was met with a wave of applause before spokesperson for the campaign, Agustin Gracia, himself a teacher in Torrevieja, addressed the crowds from atop a litter bin. He later said that the situation is now “untenable”, whereas it´s not just education that faces cuts but health care and the judicial system as well, but teachers are suffering, which is creating a “gap in the educational system”.

The Mayor of Torrevieja, Eduardo Dolón, who himself had faced criticism this week for spending 3,000 euro of municipal money on attending a gala dinner where he received a personal award for his commitment to education, was not available at the protest, as he was in Madrid at the FITUR tourism fair.

The Councillor for education for the Valencia region and member of the ruling Partido Popular, María José Catalá, issued a statement that within 10 days there would be a plan in place that would stabilise the education system and that within a “few months” there would be a system of “standardisation across the network”, including budgets and payments to schools and teachers, that would return the educational system to a “regular situation”. She went on to state that the current status is a temporary one and that it should not stop teachers from maintaining their “professionalism” and this in turn should not alter their functioning and work with their pupils.

Vice President of the Valencia community, former lawyer José Císcar, who had been previously appointed as minister for education by former Valencia leader Francisco Camps, who himself is currently still in court on corruption charges, said that the "injection" of 420 million euro from the central government to Valencia will arrive within two weeks, which will "help a lot" in determining the priorities of the Government, of which "education is one".

There is no question that the subject of education is paramount for the people who lent their support to the protest this week. We cannot ignore that there has been a significant change in the political structure of Spain and we may have to accept that things will always take an element of time to achieve, but there is also no doubt that if the education system doesn´t receive the investment it so obviously deserves, then the characters who chose to work in this field will not roll over and accept the long term risk that education cuts can lead to.

We also might question how complaints against cuts can only now be apparent, when it was clear that this would be the case prior to the election of the centre-right government of the Partido Popular, but as the educators stand side by side with the parents and workers who have children in their care, the situation is here and it´s clear, but the only option may well be to ride the storm and wait in hope that “education, education, education” could be a cross party and country mantra that means nobody suffers in the times that we live.

Following on from the protests five of the unions representing teachers have announced further action next week.

The unions are calling for the closure of schools on Tuesday, for which they are encouraging parents to try to arrange work groups for children unable to attend educational establishments. They have asked that teachers wear black on Monday in a campaign called “Monday Mourning” and on Thursdays they gather at the gates of schools in protest for 5 minutes at noon.

The unions have also announced a major protest to take place on Thursday 26th January at Alicante, Valencia and Castellon.