The first of three proposed strikes took place on April 20, with thousands of teachers taking to the streets to make their grievances heard. Police were on the scene to control the crowds and the traffic, some sitting in armoured vehicles in case trouble arose. However, this was a peaceful, if noisy, protest, comprising men, women, and many children standing up for their rights as the sun beat down.

The protest started at 11.00 am, when the maligned civil servants gathered outside the Consejer????­a de Educaci??n (government Department for Education) on Calle Primero de Mayo. Armed with the flags of the ten trade unions involved in the strikes, as well as home-made banners and placards, megaphones, and whistles, the procession made its way along Calle Primero de Mayo, down Calle San Bernardo, and along Calle Viera y Clavijo, until it reached its final destination of Parque San Telmo.

As they made their way to the square, the teachers clapped and shouted chants such as "Somos la Naci??n, Nos Vamos a Ganar" (We are the people, we are going to win"), led by men with megaphones. They distributed handouts to the watching public, explaining the reasons behind the strike. Some residents of the streets along which the protestors marched showed their support by throwing confetti from the windows. TV cameras captured the proceedings and the teachers" messages: "Dignity through Recognition", and "Standardisation without Stealth Taxes".

The strike was a general one, with teachers turning out in all of the Canary Islands. By striking, the protestors denounced the refusal of the Gobierno de Canarias to even discuss a pay rise for teachers in the public sector. They showed their disgust at the government"s failure to fulfill its promise of a pay rise, made over ten years ago in 1995. They also fought the injustice of a system that has consistently raised the pay of other civil servants in the Public Administration sector. The trade unions wanted to make clear their discontent about this issue, as well as many more, such as the lack of investment in state schools, and the working conditions to which teachers are exposed.

The only concession the government currently makes to teaching staff is a 30 euro yearly bonus, paid in a lump sum once every three years. Teachers" salaries vary depending on the number of years they have been working in the profession, but they rarely exceed a maximum of 1800 euros. This makes them the lowest paid members of the Public Administration sector of the civil service, with substantially less buying power than other, similarly qualified people.

85 per cent of the 23,000 affected teachers in all the Canary Islands signed up for the first strike, some 19,500 people. It is not known how many people actually showed their support at the protest in Las Palmas but, considering the length of the procession, the numbers must have been in the thousands. Pepa Rosales, one of the teachers participating in the strike, said: "Where I work there are nearly 40 affected teachers, and only six of them will be in school today. Most of the pupils whose tutors are on strike won"t bother coming in at all."