What happened that, with only a few days left until the end of the school year, the closure of one of the main central kitchens supplying school canteens in Mallorca was ordered and nearly 2,000 daily menus were put at risk? This is the question that remains open after the Ministry of Health of the Balearic Islands decreed the precautionary closure of the central kitchen of the restaurant Can Arabí, a decision made on Monday, June 8, following a health inspection. The closure has had an immediate effect on the school canteen system: 33 educational centers had to be urgently reorganized and menus redistributed among various companies. In total, Can Arabí managed nearly 45 school canteens, many of them on a catering basis. That same Monday night, the Department of Education activated an emergency device to ensure that no center would be left without service.

"For two years now, practically every time we go there, we find problems."practically every time we go there, we find problemsThe decision made on Monday has caused a real race against time to guarantee the canteen service for 33 educational centers and redistribute nearly 2,000 school menus daily with only nine days left until the end of the school year. Officially, the Ministry of Health has justified the closure due to non-compliance detected in the preparation, handling, and transport of food. However, the consulted sources assure that the intervention is the culmination of years of inspections, warnings, and proceedings.

For non-compliance in the preparation, handling, and transport of food intended for educational centers. These are the reasons why the Ministry of Health has ordered the precautionary closure of the central kitchen of the Can Arabí restaurant with only nine days left to finish the school year. The decision has forced the redistribution, from one day to the next, of nearly 2,000 school menus from 33 centers among three different companies. In total, Can Arabí manages 45 school canteens, many of them catering. The inspection was carried out this Monday and, well into the night, technicians from the Ministry of Education contacted management teams and families to inform them of the situation and activate an emergency plan to maintain the canteen service.

The closure this Monday of the central kitchen of Can Arabí, a company that manages the largest volume of school canteens in the Balearic Islands (45, many of them catering), has left about 2,000 daily menus in suspense, as ARA Balears has been able to exclusively learn from various sources. The canteens that Can Arabí serves with kitchens at the same center maintain their activity. Given this situation, and with the reasons for the closure still unknown at this time, a contingency plan will be activated this Tuesday that foresees the distribution of meals through three other supplier companies. However, the usual adaptations for students with food intolerances or allergies will not be guaranteed.

The Balearic Islands Ministry of Education and Universities and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment have launched a tender for school cafeteria services for the 2026-2027, 2027-2028, and 2028-2029 academic years, with a focus on local and organic products. The tender, which affects 62 public schools—31 in Mallorca, 3 in Menorca, and 28 in Ibiza—has a base budget exceeding €9.2 million and is the largest contract of its kind in the Balearic Islands to date. The minimum requirements mandate that at least 10% of the food be locally sourced and 10% be organic. Furthermore, a key award criterion is that at least 15% of the food be locally sourced and 15% be organic, tripling the percentages required by the central government.

Parents' associations have expressed their concern following the possible disappearance of the school cafeteria model managed by Parents' Associations (AFAs) in the Balearic Islands, a system currently active in about ten schools serving approximately 1,500 students and now threatened by the reform of the Decree. In a statement released this Monday, the organizations emphasize that "no one questions that the school cafeteria is, or should be, another educational space within the school. A space where education, participation, health, coexistence, sustainability... are present, or where they should be." It is precisely this pedagogical integration that, according to the families, is at stake if the current management model changes. Among the affected schools are CEIP Rafal Vell (Palma), whose cafeteria has been managed by families since 1980; and CEIP Es Pont (Palma), since 1996. CEIP Sa Indioteria (Palma), since 2006. Other affected schools are located in Llucmajor, Santa María, Alaró, Campanet, Inca, Colonia de Sant Pere, and Sant Joan.

The Minister of Education and Universities, Antoni Vera, has assured that the upcoming decree regulating school cafeterias in publicly funded schools will include menus adapted for children with food intolerances and will incorporate a percentage of locally sourced products. He explained this on Tuesday during the plenary session of Parliament, in response to a question from Vox deputy Sergio Rodríguez, who inquired whether the new regulations would include halal menus. Vera emphasized that the decree his department is drafting goes far beyond the food offerings and proposes a comprehensive regulation of school cafeterias, with the aim of guaranteeing common criteria of "quality, sustainability, food safety, and coordination." Regarding specific options, the Minister stressed that the Government will act within the limits set by the basic state regulations. "It will not be this Executive that decides to include or exclude certain menus; it is the state royal decree that establishes which options can be offered," he argued. However, Vera confirmed that students with food intolerances will be accommodated and that, following an agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture, menus will incorporate some local produce.

Only three out of ten schools offering lunch service have their own kitchen where the food is prepared. The rest depend on third parties: 63.2% use catering services, while 6.6% receive food from other schools, a system that, for all practical purposes, is also catering. Furthermore, the sector is highly concentrated. Five companies control 64% of the cafeterias in the Balearic Islands, and three of them manage 30 or more schools. This dynamic leaves little room for independent cooks and small businesses to make managing a single cafeteria viable. Operating costs are high, and competing on price with large companies—which can benefit from economies of scale and negotiate better with suppliers—becomes an uneven playing field. But a school cafeteria is much more than just cooking and serving food. Schools value those who manage it, as they are integrated into the life of the school, collaborate with the teaching staff, and understand that the cafeteria is an educational space. "When a company runs a single school, the service is of higher quality, and there's a better relationship with the management team, the children, and the teachers," explain sources from the Federation of Families of Mallorca (FAPA).