At the Hospital del Sur in Tenerife, volunteers from the No Somos de Segunda association are set to support palliative care patients and their families in future. The same Official Gazette contains two further agreements: one concerning climate protection rooms in hotels and another concerning a debating league for students in La Orotava.
The volunteers provide psychosocial and psychological support to patients and also refer them to other support services. They also work in the paediatric palliative care unit at Nuestra Señora de Candelaria University Hospital, and home visits are arranged for those who wish them. Health Minister Esther Monzón Monzón and the association’s president, Carmen Vanesa Díaz Hernández, have signed the agreement with the Canary Islands Health Service; it can be found in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands. Neither party is entering into any financial commitments as part of this agreement.
The charitable association is based in Arona and is primarily committed to ensuring equal access to public services in the field of palliative care. It provides its own trained volunteers, psychosocial support and the necessary insurance cover. The health service appoints the contact persons and, together with the association, determines working hours, duties and the wards to be covered. The association’s psychological specialist is not permitted to diagnose mental illnesses or treat moderate or severe psychiatric disorders; this remains the preserve of the health service’s own mental health departments. The same issue of the Official Gazette also contains an agreement on heat protection in hotels and one relating to a conference on demographic change.
Canary Islands: Hotels as climate-protection spaces during extreme weather
Hotels and other accommodation providers can be included in the Canary Islands‘ network of climate protection shelters, provided they join the «Ashotel Refugio Climático» programme and meet its requirements. During heatwaves, severe Calima and other extreme weather conditions, these spaces are intended to serve as refuges for the public, particularly those most at risk. The agreement was signed on 21 October by Mariano Hernández Zapata, Minister for Ecological Transition and Energy, and Ashotel President Jorge A. Marichal González. It will run for four years, after which it may be extended for up to a further four years.
Ashotel represents accommodation providers in Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro. If a member establishment meets the requirements, Ashotel reports it to the Ministry, which can then verify that the technical criteria are met. The registered establishments are shown on an online map provided by the regional mapping agency, and the list is updated on an ongoing basis. Anyone wishing to give up a room must give six months‘ notice. The text can be viewed here.
Canary Islands: Debate league on demographic change in La Orotava
The University of La Laguna is also taking part in a debating league. The final will take place at the «RETOFest» conference on 19 and 20 November in La Orotava, where the focus will be on the consequences of demographic change in the Canary Islands. The competing teams will each be made up of four people from the University of La Laguna and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The agreement was signed by Manuel Miranda Medina, Minister for Regional Planning, and Rector Francisco Javier García Rodríguez; it has been in force since 29 October and will remain valid until 31 December at the latest. It is based on the strategy for addressing demographic challenges, which the Canary Islands Government adopted on 3 November 2025.
The university selects the teams, helps to draw up the rules for the debates and appoints members to the technical committee responsible for assessing the applications. Students may be able to have their active participation recognised as credit points. If necessary, the Ministry will cover the travel and accommodation costs for up to two university staff members. Secondary school pupils, sixth-form students and vocational training students who are enrolled in the Canary Islands for the 2026/2027 academic year may also take part in the conference, with each institution permitted to field no more than one team. The agreement can be read here.
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