The Mayor of Mogán has launched an initiative to gain the backing of other island mayors. Her objective is to hold an extraordinary meeting of the Island Emergency Consortium to stop the selection process for 37 firefighter positions and ensure the exclusion of 12 interim firefighters. These professionals have been in service since 2019, and their situation of temporary employment abuse has been officially acknowledged.
Following a meeting with the affected firefighters, their families, and other members of the supra-municipal emergency body, the Mayor expressed her bewilderment at the Cabildo's haste in this process. The first test is scheduled for May 24. The Mayor advocates for honoring the agreement reached at the Consortium's negotiation table in October 2023, which stipulated that interim firefighters should only undergo a competitive examination, not a competitive opposition, to secure their positions, given they had already passed a previous selection process that lasted nearly a decade.
“"It is not fair that they have to go through another selection process when they perform ordinary duties like any other firefighter in the entity."
The Consortium Firefighters' Staff Committee has issued a statement, citing a note from the Supreme Court. This note, based on a ruling from May 11, 2026 (Obadal case), recognizes the “fraudulent” use of temporary employment for workers who, having passed an opposition without securing a position, subsequently held temporary contracts. In such cases, the Supreme Court supports contractual permanence as a remedial measure, a situation that would apply to the 12 interim firefighters mentioned.
However, the ruling also clarifies that the temporary hiring of labor personnel by public administrations without a public employment access procedure does not grant these workers permanent status as a direct consequence of temporary employment abuse. This is because it would violate constitutional principles of equality, merit, and capacity for access to public service.
For its part, the Cabildo de Gran Canaria has issued a statement explaining its position. It argues that the call for applications and its rules are valid and effective administrative acts, negotiated and approved by the Consortium's General Board, and are presumed to be in accordance with the law unless annulled by a judicial body. There is an administrative contentious appeal against the Public Employment Offer of 2024, and its suspension has been requested, making the matter sub judice.
The Cabildo concludes that it is not feasible to fill the positions through a competitive examination or restricted system, as the legal framework applicable to civil servants does not permit it, except for exceptions established by law. Furthermore, the conditions for applying the competitive examination provided for in Law 20/2021 are not met, as this law refers to structural positions occupied temporarily and uninterruptedly since before January 2016. The Cabildo assures that if future legislation or jurisprudential criteria were to support the firefighters' aspirations, it would apply them without hesitation.
