From 30 to 58 school canteens in a single year: who has taken advantage of the fall of Can Arabí?

PalmaThe fall of Can Arabí has reshuffled the map of school canteens in the Balearic Islands. The company that managed 44 of them last academic year and led the ranking of centers has disappeared from the new list of the Department of Education and its business has been distributed among several companies. But the change has not meant an atomization of the service. On the contrary: a significant part of the canteens that have become available has gone to operators that already managed dozens of centers, reinforcing the weight of the large operators.

The most evident case is that of Comensals Menjadors Escolars. In the 2024-2025 academic year it managed 30 centers, while this year it has 58. A substantial part of this growth corresponds precisely to centers that Can Arabí managed last year, especially in Palma. Among the former Can Arabí centers that are now under Comensals are Miquel Porcel, Jafudà Cresques, Escola Graduada, Son Quint, El Terreno, Santa Isabel, Alexandre Rosselló, Anselm Turmeda, Rei Jaume I, Joan Capó, Son Oliva, Marian Aguiló, Rafal Nou, Pintor Joan Miró, Es Pil·larí, Sant Jordi, Can Pastilla, Son Ferriol, Tramuntana, Cas Capiscol and Gabriel Vallseca.

Comensals is not the only beneficiary. Càtering S'Olivera goes from 31 centers to 34; Maria Magdalena Bonnín reaches 20, compared to the 9 she managed the previous year. For its part, Osventos goes from 5 to 14; Ses Maduixetes grows from 3 to 10; and Rosa Vila Córdoba, who did not appear in the previous list, enters with 8 centers. Diver Migjorn also increases its presence, going from 11 to 15.

The result is a redistribution of Can Arabí's portfolio that mainly benefits companies with the capacity to assume a high volume of centers. The concentration is seen especially well if Can Arabí is excluded from the comparison. The three operators that last school year had the most centers among those that continue in the market –S'Olivera, Comensals and Tundidor– totaled 78 centers. This school year, the three main ones –Comensals, S'Olivera and Maria Magdalena Bonnín– concentrate 112.

The big winner

The case of Comensals is the most striking. With 58 centers, it becomes the company with the most dining halls on the list, well ahead of S'Olivera, with 34, Maria Magdalena Bonnín, with 20; Julio Tundidor, with 18, and Diver Migjorn, with 15. The top five managers thus accumulate 145 of the 209 centers managed by companies, nearly 70%. The previous school year, the five companies with the most centers (Can Arabí, S'Olivera, Comensals, Tundidor and Diver Migjorn) accounted for a practically identical proportion. The difference is that now Can Arabí has been replaced by Comensals, which has more than doubled its presence, while other companies have also grown.

On the other side of the counter are the operators with one, two, or a few canteens. The new list maintains several managers of this profile, but some of the names that appeared last school year disappear. This is the case of Ángeles Marzo Pons, who goes from two centers to zero; Comedores Escolares Mallorquines, which also goes from two to none, and Margalida Oliver Barceló, who stops appearing as a manager at CEIP Joan Veny i Clar Campos after many years cooking Mallorcan dishes for the students. Other small operators maintain a very reduced presence: Mon Menjar manages two centers, while several managers appear with a single canteen. This is the case of the CEIP de Pràctiques. Today it is managed by Lluís París and his mother, but before it was done by his grandmother, when the center was in the ground floor of the current IES Josep Maria Llompart.

A new map

The new distribution also draws a very marked territorial spread. Comensals concentrates a very important part of its network in Palma, while Tundidor has an especially strong presence in Calvià and Alcúdia; Maria Magdalena Bonnín has a good part of her business in Manacor and the Llevant; Diver Migjorn has a very prominent presence in the southeast of Mallorca. Osventos dominates the dining halls of Pollença and Ciutadella, while S'Olivera has the monopoly in Ibiza.

The change of hands of the dining halls comes after an especially convulsive end to the school year. In June, Health ordered the precautionary closure of the Can Arabí central kitchen due to breaches related to the preparation, handling, and transport of food. The decision left nearly 2,000 daily menus for 33 centers up in the air and forced Education to activate an emergency protocol. ARA Balears also documented that the kitchen had accumulated inspections, files, and sanctions for issues related to hygiene, temperature control, cleaning, staff training, and the prevention of cross-contamination. Finally, Education excluded Can Arabí from the new contracts. The company even tried to return to service under another name, but the department detected the connection and left it out.