Jafeth Alonso Estupiñán takes over the leadership of the new General Directorate of Universities

The Government of the Canary Islands has dismissed Jafeth Alonso Estupiñán as Director General of Universities and Research and, in the same agreement, has appointed him Director General of Universities. The decision was adopted during the Government Council meeting held on October 19, 2026, and is published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (Boletín Oficial de Canarias) No. 213, dated October 23, 2026, through decrees 156/2026 and 157/2026.

Both decrees are based on article 31.j) of Law 4/2023, of March 23, on the Presidency and the Government of the Canary Islands, and were issued upon the proposal of the Minister of Universities, Science, Innovation, and Culture, Migdalia María Machín Tavío, signed by the President of the Government, Fernando Clavijo Batlle. The dismissal is accompanied by an express thank you for the services rendered, a standard formula in these types of transitions.

The change in designation is not a simple nominal touch-up. It responds to Decree 151/2026, of October 19, which approves the Organic Regulation of the Ministry of Universities, Science, Innovation, and Culture and modifies article 8 of Decree 123/2023, of July 17**, regarding the organic structure of the ministries, where the management center is renamed the Directorate General of Universities. This regulation entered into force on the day of its publication in the regional gazette.

A department with eight superior bodies

The Organic Regulation organizes the ministry into the following superior bodies:

• Vice-Ministry of Universities and Research.
• Vice-Ministry of Culture and Cultural Heritage.
• Canarian Agency for Research, Innovation, and Information Society, with the rank of vice-ministry.
• Technical General Secretariat.
• Directorate General of Universities.
• Directorate General of Planning, Innovation, and University Quality.
• Directorate General of Culture and Cultural Heritage.
• Directorate General of Cultural Innovation and Creative Industries.

The Directorate General of Universities and the Directorate General of Planning, Innovation, and University Quality report directly to the Vice-Ministry of Universities and Research. Furthermore, the regulation creates the Committee for the Canarian Strategy for Science, Technology, and Innovation, an interdepartmental collegiate body for strategic direction and monitoring, and adapts the structure to Law 5/2026, of July 16, the Canarian Science Law.

The competencies remaining under its command

Article 16 of the regulation details the functions of the management center now occupied by Alonso Estupiñán:

• Prepare studies and reports on the budget and financing of Canarian public universities.
• Manage the financing model of the public university system.
• Develop and manage scholarship programs and grants for university studies, complementing those of other administrations.
• Process cost authorizations for teaching and research staff, as well as technical, management, administration, and services staff.
• Establish the economic studies prior to the public prices for academic services.
• Exercise the department’s competencies regarding the University Entrance Exam.
• Act as the contracting body in procedures with a base tender budget of less than 300,000 euros.

Trajectory and scope of the readjustment

Alonso Estupiñán had already been signing resolutions as the head of Universities and Research, including that of August 11, 2026, which approved the second list of extraordinary scholarship grants for the 2025/2026 academic year, published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (Boletín Oficial de Canarias) no. 168, on August 21. His continuity at the head of the university area avoids a vacancy in the middle of the academic year and at a time of deployment of the new regulation.

The readjustment therefore occurs on two simultaneous levels: the administrative reorganization that separates universities from research in the name of the governing center, and the maintenance of the same person at the head of the area. The ministry retains competencies over universities, science and research, technological innovation and information society, audiovisual communication, and culture and cultural heritage.

For the Canarian university system, the change affects the usual dialogue with the two public universities and with private ones regarding financing, scholarships, public prices, and university access. The joint publication of the regulation and the two decrees of dismissal and appointment clears the uncertainty about who will lead those competencies for the remainder of the course.

Source: Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (Boletín Oficial de Canarias), no. 213, of October 23, 2026, section II. Authorities and personnel, pages 38185-38186 (official reference: documents no. 3653 and 3654; Decrees 156/2026 and 157/2026).