Shipyard expands work-life balance grants for nurseries and caregivers in 2026

The Astillero City Council has modified the general guidelines and announced municipal grants for the reconciliation of personal, family, and work life for employees and self-employed workers for the year 2026. The call is published in the Official Gazette of Cantabria (BOC) no. 199, dated October 16, 2026, section 6 on Grants and Aid, with reference CVE-2026-8048 and file 6212/2026. The grants, with a budget of 15,000 euros, cover nurseries and caregivers for families registered in the municipality.

The provision establishes the regulatory bases and the call for Program III of the Ordinance on Self-Employment, Stable Employment, and Reconciliation of Work and Family Life of the Astillero City Council, managed by the Department of Employment and Local Development. The text was signed in Astillero on October 9, 2026, by the mayor, Javier Fernández Soberón, and occupies pages 52852 to 52859 of the gazette.

The grants are financed through budget application 241-47000, “Grants for the promotion of employment and work-life balance,” for an amount of 15,000 euros. The granting is subject to the existence of suitable and sufficient credit, and credits may vary through duly authorized budget modifications.

Amounts and Eligible Expenses

The grants cover the payment of nurseries or early childhood education centers that are not free of charge, for children until they reach the schooling age for a 3-year-old preschool classroom, as well as the hiring of caregivers. In the case of the caregiver, they must provide service to a single head of household in their home for a period equal to or greater than 80 hours of actual work per month.

The amount consists of a fixed monthly sum per child, depending on the hours spent at the center:

• Up to 5 hours per day: 80 euros per month.
• More than 5 hours per day: 100 euros per month.
• Large or single-parent families: 100 euros per month plus an additional 20% per child.
• Children with disabilities: 100 euros per month plus an additional 40% per child.

In cases of joint custody, applicants will be entitled to the percentage of aid corresponding to the indicated monthly amount. The grants are compatible with any other subsidy for the same purpose granted by another Public Administration, provided that the concurrent aids do not exceed the cost of the subsidized item.

Requirements and Income Thresholds

Eligible applicants include employees linked to companies through a current contract and active during the period of the justified expense, and self-employed workers registered in the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers. For part-time schedules, a proportional amount will be received. Applicants must be registered as residents in Astillero.

The household income, calculated in gross annual interprofessional minimum wages (SMI), may not exceed the following thresholds:

• 2 members: 1.5 gross SMI.
• 3 members: 1.8 gross SMI.
• 4 members: 2.04 gross SMI.
• 5 members: 2.28 gross SMI.
• 6 members: 2.52 gross SMI.
• 7 members: 2.76 gross SMI.

If any member has a disability of 65% or higher, 3,700 euros are added to the threshold; in the case of large families, the threshold is increased by 1,850 euros starting from the third child inclusive.

Deadline, application, and resolution

Applications may be submitted from the day following the publication in the Official Gazette of Cantabria until December 30, 2026, and aid may be requested month by month or collectively, preferably at the General Registry of the Astillero City Council or through the means provided for in Article 16 of Law 39/2015. The justification for the aid also ends on December 30.

The processing is the responsibility of the Department of Employment and Local Development, with an assessment by the technician from the Local Development Agency and reports from the Development and Employment Commission and the Treasury and Governance Commission. The Local Government Board will resolve within a maximum period of four months from the closing of the application period; once this period has elapsed without an express resolution, the request will be understood as rejected by administrative silence.

The call for applications will be published in the Official Gazette of Cantabria and on the municipal website, and the list of applicants and the granting resolutions will be disseminated on the notice board and at www.astillero.es, in application of Law 19/2013 on transparency.

Impact for the municipality’s families

The measure reinforces economic support for work-life balance in Astillero in a context of rising costs for daycare and childcare. Families registered in the municipality with children under 3 years old, as well as large families, single-parent families, or those with children with disabilities, are the primary recipients of aid that can be requested until the end of the year and which are added to other grants for the same purpose without exceeding the actual cost of the service.

Source: Official Gazette of Cantabria, no. 199, of October 16, 2026, section 6. Grants and Aid, pp. 52852-52859 (official reference: CVE-2026-8048).