Several thousand protesters, the vast majority of them women, gathered in Seville at midday on Sunday to protest the regional authorities' handling of delays in breast cancer screening, a controversy that has turned into a political crisis.
Authorities in the Andalusia region (south), led by the People's Party (right-wing, opposition), have acknowledged that at least 2,300 women in recent years have not been informed of the results of their past mammograms in public hospitals, particularly in Seville.
In these specific cases, they were not given an "inconclusive" result or one showing "doubtful lesions," even though it implied that they would have to undergo further examinations in the more or less short term.
The controversy has stirred up feelings in Spain beyond Andalusia, becoming for several weeks the subject of criticism exchanged between the central left-wing government in Madrid and the regional right-wing authorities, on which health matters depend.
On Sunday, protesters gathered at the call of Amama, the association representing the patients concerned, in front of the headquarters of the regional authorities, to make their anger heard.
"Neither forget nor forgive, Bonilla resign!", chanted the crowd, specifically targeting Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, the right-wing president of the region, who is at the heart of criticism for his handling of the crisis which has already led to the resignation of his health advisor, Rocío Hernández.
Slogans such as "Screening errors are an attack", "Our lives cannot wait" and "You are not alone" also resonated, according to an AFP journalist present at the scene.
The crowd, among whom many women were visibly very moved, then dispersed peacefully in the early afternoon.
Some patients have already announced their intention to file a complaint against the regional authorities.
Under fire from critics, Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, whose term expires next year, has "apologized" to the plaintiffs, but regional authorities have so far remained largely evasive about the reasons for this unprecedented failure.
Faced with the controversy, they presented an emergency plan in early October, intended to allow, in particular, for an increase in staffing levels in breast care units. So far, this plan has not fully satisfied patients and their supporters.
At the national level, the Spanish Ministry of Health has announced a "more in-depth" study of cancer screening programs in the country, "starting of course" with Andalusia.
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