Aragón switches to modular grants for deficit transport

The Department of Housing, Development, Logistics, and Territorial Cohesion of the Government of Aragon has approved Order VFL/1281/2026, dated August 25, which modifies the regulatory bases for subsidies for the provision of public regular road passenger transport services with economically deficient operations. The provision, signed by Councilor Octavio López Rodríguez, is published in the Official Gazette of Aragon number 173, dated September 7, 2026, and enters into force the day after its publication.

The reform replaces the justification system based on the actual cost accounting of the operators with a system of modules per kilometer traveled, which establishes a theoretical value for the operating cost. The objective is to simplify the processing and justification of aid that, until now, required concessionaires to prove expenses and apportionments using analytical accounting, which, in practice, many do not possess.

A change in the justification model

The original bases, approved by Order VMV/705/2016, dated June 24, and modified by Order VMV/308/2020 and Order VMV/839/2021, required a justifying account of expenses and income. The evidentiary difficulties detected in the calls for applications and the recommendations of the General Comptroller in the economic-financial controls have led to the replacement of that model with the module-based one, supported by article 35.1 of the revised text of the Subsidies Law of Aragon (Legislative Decree 2/2023) and the General Subsidies Law 38/2003.

Under the new system, the application incorporates the necessary elements to determine and justify the subsidy, such that the submission of the application and its certificates constitutes the justification itself. Thus, article 19 regarding the justification period is suppressed, and the obligation to present the justifying account of expenses is eliminated.

Calculation of the module per kilometer

The module is calculated based on the theoretical value of the average cost published by the Cost Observatory for Passenger Transport by Coach, a technical body of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, to which correcting coefficients are applied. The formula is:

• Mt = Ktc × Kte × mbase, where mbase is the base module per kilometer (€/km), Ktc is the coefficient by type of concession, and Kte is the coefficient by type of company.
• The deficit to be subsidized is calculated as Mt × service kilometers − total income of the eligible period.
• Concessions are classified as small, medium, or large based on the monthly volume of kilometers, and companies according to the size of their fleet, taking into account economies of scale.
• Income from tickets, luggage, parcels, and other grants are deducted to avoid overcompensation, and a proportional multiplier coefficient is applied to adjust to the available credit.

New requirements for beneficiaries

The order also incorporates the legal requirements that have arisen since the publication of the original bases. Beneficiaries must interact electronically with the Administration in all phases and prove compliance with measures against delinquency, as well as not having been sanctioned for discrimination based on gender, labor violations, equality, LGBTI rights, democratic memory, or disability. Applications shall be submitted through the electronic office of the Government of Aragon, and income must be certified by an external audit report, the cost of which is considered an eligible expense.

The reform directly affects operators of deficit lines in Aragonese rural transport, who will see the justification of their grants simplified, and users, by guaranteeing the continuity of services that, without public compensation, would not be viable. The new model seeks greater legal certainty and a more agile and transparent distribution of public funds.

Source: Official Gazette of Aragon, number 173, September 7, 2026, section I. General Provisions (official reference: BOA20260907001).