Canary Islands reorganizes the European funds unit for Tourism and Employment

The Government of the Canary Islands has reorganized the Provisional Administrative Unit (UAP) Directorate of Technical Assistance, Management and Control of Funds of the Ministry of Tourism and Employment, which will now be structured into four sub-directorates. This is established by the Joint Order of October 20, 2026, published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (BOC) No. 218, Friday, October 30, 2026 (p. 39197), effective from the day following its publication.

The order bears the joint signature of the Minister of Presidency, Public Administrations, Justice and Security, Nieves Lady Barreto Hernández, and the Minister of Finance and Relations with the European Union, Matilde Pastora Asián González. The legal framework is Law 4/2021, of August 2 (BOC No. 160, of 4.8.2021), whose Article 13 allows for the establishment of provisional administrative units to manage projects financed by “Next Generation EU” funds, and whose Article 9 requires each department to have a Strategic Planning Instrument (IPE).

The trigger for the restructuring is the modification of the IPE of the Ministry of Tourism and Employment approved on July 20, 2026, by the Planning and Governance Commission for “Next Generation EU” funds. The European instrument supporting these structures is the Recovery and Resilience Facility, endowed with 672.5 billion euros (360 billion in loans and 312.5 billion in non-reimbursable grants), supplemented by REACT-EU, with 47.5 billion.

Four sub-directorates and 41 positions

The structure initially planned in the Joint Order of March 22, 2022 (BOC No. 62, of 29.3.2022) is replaced by an organization with one directorate and four dependent provisional administrative units (UAPD):

• UAPD Sub-directorate of Internal Control and Audit of European Funds.
• UAPD Sub-directorate of Centralized Procurement.
• UAPD Sub-directorate of Sustainability and Infrastructure.
• UAPD Sub-directorate of Administrative Management of European Funds.

Annex II of the order details the resulting staffing, with 41 positions assigned to budget program 1600.70.432A and based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The leadership consists of one director position (level 29, specific supplement of 85 points) and four sub-directorates (level 29, 80 points); below these are section heads (26/67), technicians from groups A1 and A2 (24/50 and 22/40), administrative staff from group C1 (18/18), and one senior official secretariat (18/26). For management positions, a degree or license in Law, Economics or Business Administration (ADE), or in Accounting and Finance is required.

Nine positions are charged to the Recovery Facility

The third point of the order modifies the 2022 regulation so that, from the date of publication, the personnel costs of certain positions are charged to Budgetary Service 70 of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF):

• In the Sub-directorate of Internal Control and Audit of European Funds, positions 12926310 and 12926910.
• In the Sub-directorate of Sustainability and Infrastructure, positions 12928110, 12929410, 12929710, 12929810, 12929910, 12930010, and 12930110.

In total, nine allocations are changing their charging service, which links their funding directly to the European mechanism and not to the department’s ordinary budgets.

A six-month process

The order summarizes a procedure that began on April 30, 2026, with a subsequent rectification on May 7:

• Favorable reports from the Directorate General for Planning and Budget on May 11 and 29, 2026, and from the Directorate General for the Civil Service on May 18 and 26.
• Approval of the modified IPE by the Planning and Governance Commission on July 20, 2026.
• Initiative from the Technical General Secretariat of Tourism and Employment on August 20, 2026, expanded on August 28.
• Negotiation in the Sectoral Negotiation Table for Civil Service Personnel on September 24, 2026.
• Signed in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on October 20 and published on October 30, 2026.

Against this act, which exhausts the administrative route, an optional appeal for reversal may be filed within one month or, directly, a contentious-administrative appeal before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands within two months.

Impact on personnel and beneficiaries

The reorganization fully affects the staff processing the department’s European aid and, by extension, the beneficiaries of those grants, who will now deal with four sub-directorates specialized in internal control, centralized procurement, sustainability and infrastructure, and administrative management. The creation of a specific centralized procurement unit and the reinforcement of control and auditing respond to the European requirement for expenditure traceability, while the allocation of nine positions to the RRF secures their funding for the duration of the funds’ execution.

Source: Official Gazette of the Canary Islands, no. 218, of October 30, 2026, III. Other Resolutions, page 39197 (official reference: boc-a-2026-218-3738).