What does the strike mean for patients and visitors on Tenerife?
Doctors in the Canary Islands health service, the SCS (Servicio Canario de la Salud), are on strike until at least 10 November. The strike committee extended it on 27 October, Canarias7 reports.
Routine appointments, tests and non-urgent operations can be cancelled or postponed. Emergency departments and urgent care stay covered by minimum services (staffing levels required during a strike).
Turnout on Tenerife was low on 23 October at 3.87%, against 14.89% on Gran Canaria, according to SCS figures in Moncloa's report. Nobody has yet published how many appointments were actually cancelled on Tenerife.
There are no figures for individual hospitals such as the Hospital Universitario de Canarias or Nuestra Señora de Candelaria. The south of the island has no separate breakdown either.
If you have a doctor's appointment, phone ahead or check the SCS website to see whether it goes ahead. Our research found no official guidance for patients so far.
Who is striking and what do the doctors demand?
Two unions lead the action: CESM Canarias (Sindicato Médico Canario) and SEMCA (Sindicato de Empleados Médicos de Canarias). They form a joint strike committee and called the indefinite strike from Friday 16 October 2026.
Up to 8,000 doctors could be affected, according to Redacción Médica. The unions want better pay for on-call shifts (guardias), rest time after those shifts and their own representation, so that all health professions no longer negotiate together.
RTVC writes that Canarian on-call rates are among the lowest in Spain. According to the reports, the dispute has lasted about 18 months.
The unions' strategy plan has three pillars and 18 measures. A negotiating framework emerged in July 2026, and the SCS director met the unions in August and September.
What does the health service offer, and how many are really striking?
The SCS tabled an offer with 14 points, which RTVC puts at about 50 million euros. According to RTVC, the unions want about 150 million euros and find the offer inadequate.
The consejera de Sanidad (the Canarian health minister) Esther Monzón cites a rise of about 47% in hourly on-call rates. According to Diario de Avisos, she said shifts would fall from 24 to 17 hours with almost double the pay, and that the offer should be accepted before the budget closes.
The two sides are far apart on turnout. On 17 October the SCS reported 9.1% and the unions 58%, Diario de Avisos says, while for 23 October the SCS gave 8.1 to 8.17%, or 318 of 3,892 doctors called out, according to Moncloa.
The unions call the minimum services abusive, but our research found no percentages for them. That means we cannot check which turnout figure is right.
Why are the doctors striking, and who decides?
Behind the strike is a national dispute over the draft Estatuto Marco, Spain's framework statute for health staff, which has applied since 2003. According to RTVC and Euronews, the unions say it ignores the特 nature of medical work and demand a separate statute for doctors.
The Health Ministry under Mónica García and the Congreso (Spain's lower house of parliament) decide the matter. According to Euronews, the draft cuts compulsory on-call shifts from 24 to 17 hours, which doctors call inadequate, and their main demand is a maximum 35-hour week.
SEMCA says, per RTVC, that a separate statute is for the ministry, while twelve further goals lie with the Canarian government. The UGT union tells eldiario.es that on-call rules, rest periods and pay depend on the regional administration.
Nationwide, eight organisations including CESM called an indefinite strike from 28 October 2026, according to Euronews. In the Canary Islands on 3 October 2025, the SCS counted 22.7% turnout, while the unions then said 75%.
What have the strikes cost so far?
By the end of March, about 45,000 appointments were lost and roughly 1,200 operations postponed, according to La Voz de Lanzarote on 28 May 2026. More than 1,000 tests were affected, and the paper counts 25 strike days.
By June, Redacción Médica cites over 57,000 appointments, about 1,500 operations and more than 2,900 tests. The cost estimate rose from 200 million euros in May to 400 million euros in October.
SCS director Adasat Goya puts the direct cost at 6,000 euros per strike day, with indirect costs on top. These figures come from the SCS and the unions and have not been independently checked.
At the end of June 2026, 34,382 patients were on the waiting list for operations, 7.8% more than a year earlier, according to RTVC on 1 September. The average wait was 107 days, against 121 days for Spain as a whole.
What happens next in the strike?
SEMCA president Javier Luño announced a letter to regional president Fernando Clavijo. In it he asks for Adasat Goya to be removed from the talks and for Clavijo to mediate, Canarias7 and Libertad Digital report.
CESM president Éric Álvarez refused to suspend the strike before new talks. Our research found no date for negotiations.
Moncloa reports that users accused the SCS of “mistreatment of the population”. We could not establish who said it or in what words.
What follows after 10 November, an extension or a deal, is open. On 27 October, about 300 people marched along Avenida Mesa y López in Las Palmas.