Shortage of housing for doctors and teachers deepens staffing problems on El Hierro

Posts that prove hard to fill

Several hard-to-fill posts at the Hospital Nuestra Señora de los Reyes and in schools in Valverde have gone unfilled for want of accommodation.

A rental market that barely exists

There are hardly any long-term rental flats available in Valverde.

Stopgap solutions and their limits

Guesthouses and holiday apartments converted on a temporary basis have been pressed into service, which is unsustainable in the medium term.

The effect on the quality of services

Staff turnover has consequences for continuity of care and teaching.

A growing demand

Professional bodies are calling for dedicated social housing for essential workers.

The Cabildo is looking at a housing pool for essential staff

The Cabildo of El Hierro is in talks with the Servicio Canario de la Salud and the regional education department to explore a housing pool for essential staff posted to the island. The proposal involves either handing over publicly owned homes or brokering deals with private landlords willing to let at moderate rents. Sources at the Cabildo acknowledge that the scheme is at a preliminary stage and that its progress will depend on the budget available in the coming financial years.

What the other smaller islands have learned

La Gomera faces similar difficulties in filling health and teaching posts, and has trialled subsidised rents for civil servants on temporary postings. Municipal officials on El Hierro are following that experience closely as a possible model, though they warn that the island's market, smaller still, calls for tailored solutions. The comparison between the two territories has become a recurring theme in the Cabildo's housing debates.

The cost of island life weighs on the decision to stay

On top of the shortage of rental housing comes the higher cost of basic goods that reach the island by sea, a factor cited by several newly arrived professionals when weighing up whether to extend their stay. Doctors and teachers on temporary postings explain that the savings they expected on taking a job on El Hierro quickly evaporate if they cannot find stable accommodation. According to sources in the education sector, that combination of factors explains a good share of the withdrawals recorded in recent transfer rounds.

Discontent among staff already posted to the island

Union representatives at the Hospital Nuestra Señora de los Reyes describe the strain the constant turnover of colleagues on short contracts places on the workforce. They complain that the lack of continuity means repeating induction and training with every new arrival, to the detriment of patient care. They are calling for any housing solution to come alongside more stable posts, so that accommodation ceases to be the main obstacle to building settled teams.