CCOO warns after Correos closes its El Cotillo office: “A hot summer and a rather unusual autumn are expected”

Delivery delays and heavier workloads after Correos closes its El Cotillo office

The closure of the Correos office in El Cotillo has raised concerns about the future of the public postal service in Fuerteventura.

Carlos González, the Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) union representative at Correos, warned on Friday on La Voz de Fuerteventura, on Radio Insular, that the closure of this auxiliary office may not be an isolated case, and said the organisation could be planning further cuts on the island.

“They may have plans for more office closures tucked away,” González said, after confirming that the El Cotillo office officially closed on 15 June, following the retirement of the worker who ran it, and that deliveries stopped on 5 June. He explained that Correos had known about the situation in advance because the service was provided from a room set aside in the employee’s own home, but had made no alternative arrangements to maintain public access to the service or to increase deliveries in the area.

The union representative said that, since the postman left, the service has been covered by the worker based in Lajares, who is also responsible for Majanicho, El Roque and El Cotillo. “We’re talking about a population of around 3,600, if I remember correctly,” González said. Significant delays are building up in the post, with letters “taking 10, 15, 20 days”, he said. Some residents of El Cotillo and El Roque have had to travel to the delivery depot to collect various items.

González linked the situation to a lack of recruitment and excessive workloads for staff. “They’re asking one person to do what two workers used to do,” he said.

CCOO’s concern extends across the province and the country. The union representative said that around 80 postmen should be working on the island, although the actual workforce is currently “between 50 and 60”. He also warned that recruitment plans for the summer in Las Palmas province “are being scaled back”, leaving insufficient cover for offices and deliveries.

“From 1 July, quite a few colleagues will be going on holiday, and there are no plans to recruit,” he warned. He therefore asked the public to be patient with customer service and delivery staff, while calling on Correos management to take responsibility.

Javier González Arencibia, who worked for Correos from 1977 to 2013, also took part in the discussion. He saw the decline in the service as part of a broader strategy. “They have wanted to privatise everything, and making it work badly is one way of having an excuse to privatise the service,” he said.

Both men argue that Correos should remain an essential public service, particularly on an island where rural deliveries account for a substantial share. “In Fuerteventura, 80% of deliveries are rural. 80% are rural postmen,” he recalled. They warned that the most remote areas would be hit hardest if the service were privatised, because “they are not profitable for private companies”.

For CCOO, the issue is social, not economic. “A public service does not have to make a profit. It has to serve the public,” González stressed. He announced a “hot summer and a rather unusual autumn”, with demonstrations expected.