Antigua suspends Employment Plan selection, citing SCE irregularities

The Antigua City Council has temporarily suspended the selection and hiring process for the 2025‑2026 Employment Programme after detecting “irregularities” in the criteria applied by the Canary Islands Employment Service (SCE), the council said in an official statement.

The decision, taken by Mayor Matías Peña García in agreement with the municipal Employment and Local Development technical team, will remain in force until the autonomous agency replies to the council’s request for a review submitted by the municipal technical department.

The council formally forwarded to the SCE the issues it identified in the interpretation and application of participation requirements and selection criteria, aiming to prevent situations that could generate inequality and a lack of transparency, according to the municipal communiqué.

“We cannot allow any doubt on such a delicate matter as hiring under employment plans,” the mayor said. “I regret any inconvenience this suspension may cause, but we will not take another step in the selection until the SCE clarifies which criteria are being used and how they are applied,” Peña added.

The council defended the suspension as a measure to ensure the process proceeds with total transparency, objectivity and equal opportunity, in line with the framework agreement signed between the SCE and the Canary Islands Municipal Federation (FECAM).

The council’s note focuses on the selection phase managed by the SCE. While final hiring is the responsibility of the municipalities, the pre‑selection of candidates is normally carried out by the SCE’s offices according to the programme’s requirements and criteria.

In this case, the council says it has detected “various incidents related to the interpretation and application of participation requirements and selection criteria” by the autonomous agency, which have already been formally submitted for review.

Mayor Matías Peña also requested that the SCE “review and respond on the criteria applied” and announced that future candidate‑selection procedures for employment plans will be conducted in offices outside the island.

With this public complaint, the mayor appears to be directing attention toward two entities:

• The Canary Islands Ministry of Tourism and Employment, headed by Jèssica de León (PP), which oversees the appointment of the SCE director, María Teresa Ortega Granados.

• The mixed nature of the employment‑plan beneficiary selection, which involves both municipalities and the regional government. The SCE conducts the pre‑selection based on the framework agreement with FECAM, while municipalities formalise the contracts and implement the subsidised programme. In other words, the SCE compiles lists of qualified candidates and forwards them to the council, which can verify requirements and proceed with hiring, but the SCE does not intervene in the initial scoring or the technical pre‑selection criteria.

Possible Internal Disagreements

The Employment and Local Development area is led by councilor Victoria Cerdeña González (Canary Coalition), suggesting that the mayor’s complaint may also stem from internal disagreements. Within the municipal governing group led by Matías Peña (ALxAN), recent public differences have emerged, particularly from councilors of the Canary Coalition and Contigo, who have voiced disagreements with the mayor.

€360,000 Frozen and the Hiring of 22 People

On 2 February, the Antigua City Council announced that it had completed the hiring of 22 unemployed individuals under the Social Employment Plan 2025‑2026, publicly praising the programme’s benefits. At that time, the council disclosed the financing sources:

• SCE grant: €277,336.95
• Municipal contribution: €83,541.00

This brought the total investment to €360,877.96.

With the additional municipal funding, the council was able to extend contract durations, covering roles such as masonry, home‑care assistance, sociocultural animation, and administrative support. Mayor Matías Peña García and councilor Victoria Cerdeña welcomed the newly hired staff, emphasizing that they joined the municipal workforce “with the same rights and obligations” as other employees.

The council also highlighted that the scoring (baremación) of candidates was carried out according to the social and professional criteria of the Canary Islands Integrated Employment Plan, prioritising long‑term unemployed persons and those in particularly vulnerable situations.