Aragón opens two million in aid for deficit rural passenger transport

The Government of Aragon has opened the call for subsidies intended to compensate for the operating deficit of public regular road passenger transport services. Order VFL/1422/2026, dated September 18, signed by the Councilor for Housing, Public Works, Logistics, and Territorial Cohesion, Octavio López Rodríguez, is published in the Official Gazette of Aragon number 194, dated October 6, 2026, with reference BOA20261006011, and its summary appears in the same edition with reference BOA20261006016.

Two million for the deficit from February to October 2024

The call has a credit of two million euros (€2,000,000.00), charged to the budgetary application G/13060/5132/470004/91002 (PEP 2006/001229) of the Budget of the Autonomous Community of Aragon for 2026. The amount may be increased without a new call if credits are generated, expanded, or incorporated, and if the credit proves insufficient, a proportional distribution will be applied via a readjustment coefficient.

The objective is to cover the negative balance of the operating account of each public service management contract owned by the Government of Aragon, based on its individualized accounting, during the period between February and October 2024, both inclusive. The regulation warns that the mere existence of a deficit does not generate a right to aid, as the principle of operation at the concessionaire’s own risk and venture applies.

The regulatory bases are those of Order VMV/705/2016, dated June 24 (BOA number 136, dated July 15, 2016), modified by Order VMV/308/2020, dated April 6; Order VMV/839/2021, dated July 5, and Order VFL/1281/2026, dated August 25 (BOA number 173, dated September 7, 2026), which introduced justification by modules.

Who can apply and how it is calculated

Beneficiaries may be legal persons or entities providing the public regular road passenger transport service whose operation is economically deficient. Those subject to the causes of prohibition in Article 13 of Law 38/2003, dated November 17, General Law on Subsidies, are excluded, and it is required to be up to date with tax and Social Security obligations and to have no debts with the Aragonese Treasury.

The aid covers up to 100% of the deficit generated by the concessional minimum, calculated by modules. The base module per kilometer is 1.6808 euros, taken from reports number 39 (January 2024) and number 40 (July 2024) of the Passenger Transport Cost Observatory, dependent on the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility. Corrective coefficients are applied to it:

• By type of concession: small (up to 8,000 km per month), medium (between 8,001 and 35,000 km), and large (more than 35,000 km).
• By company size: small (up to 10 vehicles), medium (between 11 and 30), and large (more than 30).
• Resulting total module: between 1.6437 and 2.2409 euros per kilometer, depending on the combination of both factors.

The application must include income certificates, service kilometers, and the maximum number of vehicles, along with an external audit report, the cost of which is an eligible expense up to 3,000.00 euros. The grant is compatible with other aid, which will be deducted if they pursue the same purpose.

Ten business day deadline and resolution within three months

Submission must be electronic via the e-Office of the Government of Aragon, using procedure 11855, and is addressed to the General Directorate of Transport. The deadline is ten business days from the day following the publication of the call in the BOA; the lack of an electronic signature will result in inadmissibility.

The resolution corresponds to the Councilor for Housing, Development, Logistics, and Territorial Cohesion, who will notify within three months from the end of the application period. An optional appeal for reversal may be filed within one month, or a contentious-administrative appeal within two months before the High Court of Justice of Aragon.

Impact on rural transport

The call reaches regular line concessionaires throughout Aragon, many of which are rural and have structurally deficit operations due to low demand and the obligation to maintain minimum expeditions. The module system, with coefficients that penalize small concessions and companies, seeks to recognize the higher unit cost of these operators and guarantee the continuity of service in the territory.

Source: Official Gazette of Aragon, number 194, of October 6, 2026, section III (official reference: BOA20261006011).