Spain's regions set €60,000 fines for attacks on health workers

The Valencian People's Party has introduced a reform to the regional Budget Accompaniment Law that would impose fines of up to €60,000 on anyone who assaults a healthcare professional. The proposal, announced by deputy Nieves Martínez, also grants medical staff the status of public authority even outside health facilities. The measure follows 1,457 reported assaults on Valencian health workers in 2025, most of them verbal, and is slated to take effect in September if approved.

In Andalusia, acting health minister Antonio Sanz announced a forthcoming specific law targeting aggression toward public‑sector health professionals. The draft includes a sanction regime ranging from minor to serious offences, with penalties also reaching €60,000. It covers verbal insults, threats, physical attacks and digital harassment, and introduces complementary measures such as restricting aggressors' access to health centres and coordinating with judicial actions. The regional government has increased security spending to €60 million and installed over 50,000 monitoring devices in health facilities.

Both regions aim to provide a stronger deterrent against violence toward medical staff and to align regional protection measures with professional and union calls for stricter legal safeguards.