Numerous protests from public hospitals, including Vall d'Hebron, demanded more freedoms and better working conditions

In 1974, the residents of Vall d’Hebron, along with those of many other public hospitals, began a strike to protest against the Spanish government’s regulations that required a certificate of good conduct during the race to enter the MIR. The strike almost paralyzed the center, as other professionals joined in solidarity. The residents were dismissed, and some staff doctors continued to demonstrate and pressured to be readmitted. Most of the leaders of the movement were prosecuted and dismissed, with the addition of the impossibility of working in any other Social Security hospital. Among the punished doctors were Drs. Josep Morera, Anna Mª Sanmartí, Jaume Clapés, Antoni Mirada, Angel Aranda and Ferran Morell. A few months later they were readmitted, when their dismissal was declared unjustified by the Magistracy.

This strike began shortly after another conflict that had begun in February 1972 in solidarity with the doctors at the psychiatric hospital in Oviedo, who had been dismissed for demanding better pay and working conditions, had ended. After long negotiations, which reached December without any results, the workers at Vall d’Hebron agreed to call a general strike, maintaining essential services, and closing down the centre. The day after the closure, the police entered and charged the workers. Finally, the workers obtained some concessions and a promise not to retaliate for the protests.

Throughout the 1970s, protests continued in different sectors of society. A new era was opening in the Spanish state, with the death of dictator Franco. Labor conflicts and demands for better conditions were frequent in many sectors, including healthcare.