What does the strike mean for visitors and residents in southern Tenerife?
Anyone with a routine appointment in the public health service should expect delays. The strike committee says consultations, operations and diagnostic tests have already been postponed, but there are no figures.
Urgent treatment that cannot wait continues, according to a union leaflet. No official list of affected health centres turned up, nor any guidance from the health service for tourists.
In the 2023 strike, minimum services covered all emergencies, oncology and dialysis in full, according to reports at the time. Whether those rules apply now is not confirmed.
In practice: phone to confirm your appointment at the health centre or hospital before you set off. No decree on minimum services for this strike turned up.
How long will the strike last, and how many doctors are taking part?
The strike began on 16 October 2026 and runs until 24 November, says the strike committee. The committee wants to file a new advance notice extending it into December, but reports say it has not yet done so.
On Friday 13 November, 4.96% took part, according to the Consejería de Sanidad (the Canary Islands health ministry). It put the strikers at 209 staff in health centres and hospitals and gave no total.
On 17 October the health service SCS reported about 9.1%, while the unions spoke of 58%. They call the minimum services abusive.
On 23 October participation was 8.17%, or 318 of 3,892 doctors called out, regional media reported. Official and union figures often differ widely: on 3 October 2025 the authority gave 22.7% and the union 75%.
On Tenerife, the health authority counted 120 of 1,862 doctors, or 6.44%, on an earlier strike day, 22 June 2026. No figure for Tenerife alone exists for the current strike.
Why are the doctors striking?
The unions CESM Canarias (Sindicato Médico Canario, led by president Eric Álvarez) and SEMCA (Sindicato de Empleados Médicos de Canarias) called the strike. It runs separately from the national dispute over the Estatuto Marco, the framework statute, and follows a plan with 18 goals that the unions say the Consejería left unanswered.
According to RTVC reports of 27 October, the doctors want on-call shifts (guardias) of 12 hours instead of 24, better rest periods and higher pay. They also demand more doctors’ representation at the negotiating tables.
The union UGT reminded that work organisation, on-call shifts, pay and staffing fall under the Canary government. Talks are with the Consejería de Sanidad under Consejera Esther Monzón and SCS director Adasat Goya.
Spain’s national health ministry signed the Estatuto Marco with SATSE, UGT, CCOO and CSIF, but without the doctors’ unions. It caps on-call shifts at 17 hours and the working week at 45 hours, and must still pass Congress and the Senate.
In spring 2026 doctors struck weekly, between February and June. On 25 September 2026 the SCS signed a preliminary agreement with UGT, which the doctors’ union considers inadequate, saying it meets no more than 30% of expectations.
Where do the talks with Clavijo stand?
The last meeting between the strike committee and the health authority took place on 14 October, and none has been reported since. Levy Cabrera, secretary general of the doctors’ union CESM Canarias, said: “We know absolutely nothing from the Canary government.”
President Fernando Clavijo told parliament on Wednesday 11 November that he wanted to negotiate with the unions in person. Any deal must not harm quality of care, he said, and he gave no date.
Two days later the strike committee had still not been invited. It says the strike goes on until Clavijo calls for negotiations.
Clavijo said the government had offered 150 million euros in extra pay, with the period and details left open. A report of 16 October put the health service’s offer at about 50 million euros, and how the two figures relate is unclear.
The committee sought support in parliament, among others from José Alberto Díaz-Estébanez (Coalición Canaria), Nira Fierro and Tamara Raya (PSOE), Nicasio Galván and Sara Daroca (Vox) and Yone Caraballo (Nueva Canarias). According to Cabrera, all asked why the doctors had not been invited after 20 strike days.
What happens between now and December?
The strike runs until 24 November, and an extension into December is planned. When the committee will file the new notice and what it will contain has not been published.
A meeting remains possible if Clavijo invites the strike committee. There is no date for one so far.
Still open are the demands in figures, the total number of doctors called out and the union’s own turnout figure for November. Anyone with an appointment in the public health service on Tenerife in the coming weeks should have it confirmed beforehand.