What does the demand mean for visitors in the south?
There is no tram in the south, as both lines run in the north of the island. The Tranvía links Santa Cruz with La Laguna and La Cuesta with Tíncer, 15.1 kilometres with 27 stops in all.
Our research names no line in the southern resorts, and a third line is only planned. So anyone living or holidaying in the south will only notice the problems on a trip to Santa Cruz or La Laguna.
According to the PSOE, trams there can get crowded, mainly at peak times. New timetables, fares or closures as a result of the demand are not confirmed.
Anyone planning a ride should check the current frequencies on metrotenerife.com beforehand. The site lists the times that apply right now.
What does the PSOE accuse the Cabildo of?
The works council says drivers, control and maintenance are short of staff. It links this to more delays and trams pulled from service.
What annoys the PSOE most is that drawing up the terms for the job advert takes months. The report on the meeting does not say how many new posts the party wants.
Who runs the Tranvía and who decides on staffing?
The Cabildo (island government) owns the operator, Metropolitano de Tenerife S.A. It sets expansion, fleet and staffing budget, but the documents contradict each other on the exact size of its share.
Metrotenerife's 2025 annual report records 24,953,848 passengers, a record. That is 61% more than in 2023, the year the free fares began.
The fleet grew from 17 trains in 2022 to 19 in September 2023. At that point the interval on Line 1 fell from five to 4.5 minutes.
Our research does not show how many drivers and trains are in service today. The current interval is not confirmed either, and nobody has shown a link between the record and the delays.
Why is staffing an old dispute at the Tranvía?
The dispute ran for almost two years before Metropolitano de Tenerife and the unions CCOO, UGT and USO agreed a preliminary deal to end the strike on 22 January 2026. That is according to the source.
The deal mainly covers health and safety: quartz sand is to be replaced step by step and facilities decontaminated with certification. Staff were due to vote on 28 January, and the result is not available.
A strike in 2018 was already about too few staff, followed by walkouts in 2023 and 2024. An unverified tip said six extra driver posts were to be proposed to the board, but it is unclear whether they were created.
The PSOE in Tenerife has long called the mobility management of Cabildo president Rosa Dávila a “fracaso”, meaning failure. The demand of 5 November fits that line.
What is still open and what happens next?
The Cabildo has not yet answered the accusations, and neither has Metropolitano de Tenerife. Nobody has published figures on delays or cancellations for 2026.
The report does not say when a decision on the demand will come, for instance at a board meeting. A report from September 2026 says the Cabildo approved a mobility plan worth 5,097 million euros, whose content we have not checked.
The Spanish government extended free travel for frequent users of Canary Islands buses and the Tranvía for 2026, approved on 23 December 2025. The conditions for tourists are not documented and should be checked with the operator.