Recruitment drive ends with no hires for seven Baiona construction roles
- Baiona left seven public-works laborer jobs unfilled after every candidate failed a practical exam in the town’s municipal hiring process. - Fourteen people sat the April 29 test for posts funded through Pontevedra’s Plan + Provincia 2026, but nobody reached the 5-out-of-10 pass mark. - The hires were meant to start by May 1 and run through December, so the town now has to reopen recruitment.
A small-town hiring process in Baiona has turned into a blunt reminder that “job opening” and “hire” are not the same thing. The town tried to fill seven temporary public-works laborer roles. It had enough applicants to do it. But when the practical test happened on April 29, nobody passed. So all seven jobs are still empty, and the council has to start over. ### What jobs are we talking about? These were seven peón de obra pública positions — basically entry-level municipal public-works laborers. The jobs were tied to Plan + Provincia 2026, a provincial funding program from the Deputación de Pontevedra, and the selected workers were supposed to stay on the job through December 31, 2026. ### What actually went wrong? The practical exam wiped out the whole pool. Fourteen candidates showed up for the test at the Ángel Bedriñana multiuse building on April 29 at 4 p.m., and every one of them was marked “not apt.” The minimum point met the standard. ### Weren’t there enough applicants? On paper, yes. The SEPE — Spain’s public employment service — initially sent 21 unemployed people, which was three candidates for every open slot. But some dropped out or did not complete the process in all tests. ### What was on the test? The exam was built around basic day-to-day municipal work. In electricity, candidates had to identify or use common tools and components like Torx screwdrivers, photocells, and cable cutters. In environmental services, using a mortar pan, applying tile adhesive with a trowel, spreading monocapa render, or handling a bush hammer. Basically, this was not abstract theory. It was hands-on trade familiarity. ### Why does that matter? Because these are exactly the kinds of jobs people often assume can be filled quickly. Baiona’s case says otherwise. The town had funding, a hiring channel, and a candidate list. But municipal work crews still need workers. If the bar stays where it is, the town may struggle to find workers fast. ### Who judged the candidates? The tribunal included foremen from electricity, environment, and roads-and-works. That matters because the town is framing the result as a technical judgment, not a political one. Mayor Jesús Vázquez Almuiña said the panel is autonomous and independent, and that if it decides candidates are not qualified, the council cannot simply wave them through. ### So what happens now? Baiona has already started the paperwork for a new selection process. The catch is timing. The workers were supposed to start on May 1, so the failed exam has already delayed the plan. That means more waiting before those seven temporary crews can actually be staffed. ### Bottom line? This is a very local story, but the problem is bigger than one town. Baiona did not run out of applicants. It ran into a skills gap — or at least a certification gap — in exactly the kind of manual public-sector work that municipalities still need every day.
