Mallorca school kitchen shut: 2,200 pupils affected
On Mallorca, 2,200 pupils at 35 schools now get their lunches from Comensals after the Can Arabí school kitchen closed in June. On 15 October, education minister Antoni Vera denied trying to prevent the closure during a parliamentary education committee hearing. He said the Directorate-General for Public Health ordered it after an inspection.
Why did the kitchen close?
Vera said he learnt of the inspection on the afternoon it took place and spoke to neither inspectors nor anyone else about it. Public Health had found shortcomings in April, he said, but had not ordered the kitchen to stop serving meals. A follow-up check two months later looked at how the food was prepared, and the kitchen was then closed.
Socialist MP Patricia Gómez asked why the decision came so close to the end of the school year. She said Can Arabí had faced eight sanction proceedings since 2019, citing problems including keeping food cold during transport, tracing meals and staff qualifications.
Who provides the school meals now?
Vera said his department arranged alternative lunches. Pupils with food intolerances could initially bring meals from home; he said they waited no more than one or two days before the school meal service could feed them again.
The replacement brought no extra cost to the administration, Vera said, because Can Arabí had to arrange other providers when it could no longer fulfil its contract. Comensals currently serves the affected schools. A new contract for all 35 schools is due to go out to tender in February.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com