Future Multipurpose Center Exposes Higher Education Gaps on the Island
The Cabildo of Fuerteventura has announced the drafting of a project for a future Multipurpose Training Center, a building intended to host higher‑education studies and located near the Fuerteventura Technology Park.
The island’s Education Department presents the initiative as an alternative training facility for an island that has experienced a notable population increase, a youthful demographic, and educational infrastructure that remains insufficient at all levels.
In a press release, the Cabildo highlighted the Fuerteventura School of Art, a government‑run program that has been housed for nearly a decade in the Technology Park in provisional premises not designed for teaching; and also the CIFP Majada Marcial, which faces a growing overload of students each year, with the Education Department having planned no expansion alternatives.
The same problem affects the only university‑level program currently offered on the island, the Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing, which is taught at the Training and Congress Palace after many years in the Island Library Center (the former Popular University). Both spaces are leased from the Cabildo.
Since higher education falls under the competence of the Canary Islands Government’s Education Department, this Cabildo project, while a step toward offering alternatives, also reveals an investment gap from the regional government, which commands a budget far larger than that of the island councils.
“The Multipurpose Center Does Not Exempt the Canary Islands Government from Meeting the Demands”
According to Cabildo President Lola García, during a recent coordination meeting the new center “will promote the establishment of university and higher‑education studies in Fuerteventura, improving the educational offer and helping retain talent on the island,” the institution said in the same release.
The island’s Education Counselor, Adargoma Hernández, emphasized that the goal is to create a space capable of accommodating both existing degrees and new study programmes—a demand that has been recurring for years due to a lack of adequate facilities.
“The development of the Multipurpose Training Center project does not exempt the Executive from addressing demands such as a dedicated facility for the Fuerteventura School of Art or the expansion of CIFP Majada Marcial.”
— Adargoma Hernández
According to the Cabildo’s own reading, currently governed by a coalition of the Canary Coalition and the Socialist Party, Fuerteventura suffers from a lack of regional planning in education, a veiled criticism of the Education Department led by the popular Poli Suárez.
The island’s Treasury Counselor, Nuria Cabrera, concluded the Cabildo’s statement by noting that they are currently seeking “financing mechanisms for the future Multipurpose Training Center so that construction can begin as soon as possible.” It remains unclear whether the future center will be fully funded by the island administration or will receive support from the autonomous community’s government.