The conflict between CESM Canarias and the Canary Islands government has escalated after the medical union rejected the regional authorities' latest proposal. The indefinite doctors' strike, led by CESM Canarias and the Sindicato de Empleados Médicos de Canarias (SEMCA), began on 16 October 2026 after negotiations with the Canary Islands Health Service (SCS) failed to resolve disagreements over work schedules and compensation, including on-call duties and rest periods. CESM Canarias is demanding that regional president Fernando Clavijo intervene personally, arguing that the current approach fails to address the core issues behind the walkout. The union calls the government's response an example of “institutional cynicism” and says it does not reflect the realities medical professionals face.
The dispute includes a contested redesign of 24-hour duties. The SCS has proposed making a 17-hour weekday shift optional, subject to the organization of each service. On weekends and public holidays, 24-hour duties could be replaced by two 12-hour shifts where operationally feasible. The package reportedly contains 14 measures, including a 41% increase for 17-hour shifts and a 15.4% increase for weekend and holiday duties, bringing the latter to €1,026 per shift. CESM Canarias has criticized incentives it says would pay higher rates to doctors taking on more than five 24-hour shifts a month. The union argues this conflicts with its demand that doctors should not be required to work more than five such shifts. It says the terms risk rewarding additional workload instead of ensuring a meaningful reduction.
CESM Canarias says the SCS responded to its detailed proposals with a brief email that did not substantively address measures covering post-shift rest and on-call duties, along with night work, functional plans and patient-to-doctor ratios. The union's document reportedly set out as many as 16 measures, with particular emphasis on on-call pay and the management of compensatory rest. The government's wider offer was reported to involve nearly €80 million in additional Chapter I expenditure, the budget category covering personnel costs. Health Minister Esther Monzón has presented the package as an effort to reduce continuous working time while staying within the regional government's budgetary limits.
The disagreement also concerns how any changes would work in practice. Although the SCS package includes longer rest after 24-hour duties, CESM Canarias says it lacks the specific, enforceable guarantees the union seeks for scheduling and recovery time. The union also objects to what it considers inadequate regulation for on-call doctors, who may have to remain available and carry out complex interventions. Monzón has identified on-call arrangements and rest after 24-hour shifts as areas open to negotiation, alongside salary supplements and professional career progression. She has said the government is willing to seek a “logical” solution within its budget structure.
CESM Canarias calls the negotiations a “pointless charade,” formally rejects the offer and insists that Clavijo take direct responsibility for resolving the dispute. On the strike’s opening day, the unions called on the president to get directly involved. The union also recalls that during the 2023 doctors’ strike, Clavijo, then opposition leader, publicly promised to meet medical representatives to seek solutions. The government and unions have reported sharply different participation figures: the SCS put participation at 9.1%, while the unions claimed 58%. An official figure reported for 20 October was 7.84%. The strike remained active after further contacts. Union representatives acknowledged progress on some points, including daytime on-call pay, and a commitment to address further remuneration improvements over the next three budgets. But spokesperson Cabrera said there was not yet “a preliminary agreement.”
The standoff in the Canary Islands reflects broader tensions in Spain over healthcare working conditions and government responses to labor disputes. In other regions, authorities have also faced criticism for failing to address the needs of vulnerable groups. Catalonia, for example, allocated impressive funds to identify families missing out on social aid, as detailed in a recent report on efforts to expand welfare coverage in Catalonia. The dispute highlights the challenge regional governments face in balancing budget constraints with demands from impressive public-sector workers. Negotiations will turn on how duties are scheduled, what workload limits apply and how quickly pay changes take effect.
