Deadline for the Solidaridad en Letras competition extended to November 17

The Ministry of Social Services, Families and Equality of the Regional Government of Andalusia has extended the deadline for submitting applications for the 25th edition of the Andalusian School Literary Contest on Volunteering until November 17, 2026, inclusive. The decision is formalized through the Order of October 19, 2026, published in the Official Gazette of the Regional Government of Andalusia (BOJA) no. 205, of October 22, 2026, with reference BOJA26-205-00001-13826-01_00345056 (text no. 13826, page 13826/1).

The contest, titled “Solidarity in Letters: The value of older people and volunteering in the International Year of Volunteers”, was regulated and announced by the Order of June 9, 2026, published in BOJA no. 112, of June 12, 2026. Its eighth clause established a calendar that began the day after the publication of that order and concluded on October 26, 2026, both inclusive. The new provision replaces that closing date with November 17, adding 22 calendar days to the registration period.

A deadline extended by three weeks

The extension is approved “given the convenience of facilitating maximum participation from Educational Centers in Andalusia,” as stated in the text of the order. The document does not modify any other clause of the call: it is limited to shifting the deadline for submitting applications.

The order consists of two resolutive sections:

• First: to extend until November 17, 2026, inclusive, the deadline for submitting applications provided for in the eighth clause of the Order of June 9, 2026.
• Second: the order takes effect from its publication in the BOJA, that is, from October 22, 2026.

The legal basis for the extension

The Ministry relies on Article 32 of Law 39/2015, of October 1, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations, which allows the Administration to grant, ex officio or at the request of the interested parties, an extension of the established deadlines, provided it does not exceed half of said deadlines, if circumstances advise it and no third-party rights are harmed.

The processing is completed with other regulatory references:

• The proposal from the General Directorate of Volunteering and Diversity.
• Article 46.4 of Law 6/2006, of October 24, of the Government of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia.
• Decree 196/2026, of July 30, which establishes the organic structure of the Ministry of Social Services, Families and Equality.

The text is signed in Seville, on October 19, 2026, by the Minister María Dolores López Gabarro.

Who the contest is aimed at

The call for applications is aimed at students from any public, semi-private (concertado), or private Primary Education center in Andalusia, as well as Special Education Centers within the autonomous community, for the 2026 academic year. The competition marks its twenty-fifth edition and focuses its thematic axis on the value of elderly people and the work of volunteering, within the framework of the International Year of Volunteers.

Interested centers that have not yet submitted their application therefore have three additional weeks relative to the original calendar, without the order introducing changes to the participation requirements or the rest of the rules.

The extension has an immediate practical effect for Andalusian schools: the initial deadline expired next Monday, October 26, barely four days after the publication of the extension, meaning many centers preparing their work in the final stretch of the calendar would have been left out. With the new closing date in November, the Ministry seeks to increase the number of participants in a call that this year links school writing with volunteering and the recognition of elderly people.

Source: Official Gazette of the Junta de Andalucía (BOJA), no. 205, of October 22, 2026, section 1. General provisions, page 13826/1 (official reference: BOJA26-205-00001-13826-01_00345056).