Tourism Jobs and Financial Pressures Linked to Higher School Dropout Rates in the Canary Islands
The Canary Islands continue to face one of the highest rates of early school leaving in Spain, with education leaders warning that financial hardship and the region’s tourism-based economy are encouraging some young people to enter the workforce before completing their studies.
While tourism remains the backbone of the Canary Islands economy, providing employment for hundreds of thousands of people, experts say its accessibility can also create difficult choices for some families.
Why are students leaving education early?
According to the latest available figures, around 15.9% of young people aged 18 to 24 in the Canary Islands leave education or training before completing upper secondary education or further qualifications. That places the region second highest in Spain for early school leaving.
Education officials believe there are several contributing factors, including:
- Easy access to entry-level jobs in tourism and hospitality.
- Financial pressures on households.
- Regional poverty and inequality.
- The cost and practical challenges of studying on islands where some specialist courses require travel.
Many hospitality and tourism businesses recruit staff without requiring university qualifications, making immediate employment an attractive option for some young people looking to help support their families.
The impact of Lanzarote’s tourism industry
For islands such as Lanzarote, tourism creates thousands of valuable jobs and remains essential to the local economy. Hotels, restaurants, excursion companies, transport providers and visitor attractions all depend on a strong workforce.
However, education experts stress that while tourism creates opportunities, young people may be sacrificing long-term career prospects if they leave education too early.
The issue is not tourism itself, but ensuring that employment opportunities and education can work together rather than compete with one another.
What happened during the pandemic?
Interestingly, officials noted that school dropout rates actually fell during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With tourism businesses temporarily closed and employment opportunities greatly reduced, more students chose to remain in education. As tourism recovered and jobs became widely available again, early school leaving began to rise once more.
What is being done?
The Canary Islands Government says it is working to improve educational outcomes through several initiatives, including:
- Better careers guidance at schools.
- Expanding vocational training (FP) courses.
- Aligning qualifications with labour market needs.
- Supporting young people who wish to return to education after leaving.
- Encouraging employers to help staff continue studying while working.
Teaching unions have also called for increased investment in education, arguing that stronger funding and support services are needed to reduce inequalities and improve long-term success rates.
Why this matters
For residents, the debate highlights the challenge of balancing a thriving tourism economy with long-term educational opportunities for young Canarians.
Tourism remains one of the region’s greatest strengths, but policymakers increasingly recognise that investing in education and skills is equally important for the Canary Islands’ long-term prosperity. Broader economic studies also point to ongoing challenges including productivity, housing affordability and labour shortages alongside continued economic growth.
