Staffing Crisis Disrupts School Cafeteria Services in Southern Tenerife
A severe staffing shortage has disrupted cafeteria services at seven schools in southern Tenerife, prompting the Canary Islands' Ministry of Education to fast-track emergency hiring to address the crisis.
The 2026-2027 school year has begun with significant disruption to cafeteria services in southern Tenerife. According to El Día, an unprecedented staffing crisis has left several schools struggling to provide essential meal services, forcing administrators to implement emergency measures to support their most vulnerable students.
Seven schools—CEIP Fañabé, CEIP Granadilla, CEIP Almácigo, CEIP La Cumbrita, Teobaldo Power, CEIP Tamaimo, and CEIP José Esquivel—have been hit hardest by a sudden surge in staff sick leave. Poli Suárez, the Canary Islands' Minister of Education, reported that 60 temporary vacancies left cafeterias understaffed throughout early September. In some cases, schools have had to rely on the voluntary help of teachers and parents to keep services running, highlighting serious flaws in the current hiring process.
The Ministry of Education admitted that the system for providing "floating" staff, which included 100 workers last year, has been unable to keep up with demand. To address this, the regional government is working with the Canary Islands Employment Service to fast-track new hiring and expects the situation to stabilize within the coming week.
This crisis underscores the logistical challenges of managing school support services, which are vital for working families. While the government claims that services are slowly returning to normal—noting that two new assistants were recently added to one of the most affected schools—the situation has sparked calls for a review of how staff absences are handled. Officials maintain that recruitment is ongoing and that they are working to ensure these shortages do not become a long-term issue, a promise that will be closely monitored by the affected school communities.