Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council announces €2.6 million in grants for permanent employment

Programa municipal cofinanciado con Lanbide

The Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council, through the Department of Economic Promotion, Employment, Commerce and Tourism, has published in the Official Gazette of the Historical Territory of Álava (BOTHA) number 93, corresponding to 17 August 2026, the extract of the call and the regulatory bases of the Economic grants for job recruitment in Vitoria-Gasteiz for the 2026 financial year, co-financed by Lanbide-Basque Employment Service.

The Local Government Board approved the call and its bases at a session held on 31 July 2026. The agreement has also been registered in the National Subsidies Database with identifier BDNS 924199. The programme falls within the municipality’s Strategic Subsidies Plan 2025-2027, under line Sheet 08_07_v03 dedicated to promoting job recruitment.

The total economic allocation amounts to €2,678,663.00, distributed across two budget items: €2,256,363.00 charged to item 0823.2411.480.15 (“Regional Plan Lanbide Contribution”) and €422,300.00 from item 0823.2411.480.20 (“Regional Plan Municipal Contribution to Recruitment”), both from the 2026 municipal budget. The instructing body is the Employment Unit of the Training, Employment Promotion and Social Economy Service, and the resolution corresponds to the delegated councillor of the department.

Eligible recruitments and requirements

The grants are aimed at private individuals or legal entities with a workplace and economic activity within the municipal area of Vitoria-Gasteiz. The purpose is to promote the recruitment of unemployed persons registered as residents in the municipality and registered as job seekers with Lanbide, with special attention to groups facing difficulties in accessing the labour market.

The conditions that recruitments must meet are:

• Contracts must be permanent, full-time or part-time with a minimum of 50% of working hours.
• Recruitments must take place between 1 January 2026 and 31 December 2026.
• They must represent net job creation compared to the average workforce of the six months prior to incorporation.
• The company must maintain the permanent contract for at least 12 months.
• No more than one grant will be awarded for the recruitment of the same person.
• The number of grants is limited to four per company.

Excluded from the grant are alternating training contracts, fixed discontinuous contracts and replacement contracts, as well as recruitments between temporary employment agencies lending workers, the special employment relationships under Article 2.1 of the Workers’ Statute, and recruitments to carry out contracts awarded by the city council itself.

Amount of the aid

The call establishes a scale of non-repayable subsidies based on the profile of the person hired:

• €8,000 for each full-time contract (general scheme).
• €10,000 for a full-time contract when hiring recipients of the Guaranteed Income Benefit (RGI) or the Minimum Vital Income (IMV), persons under 35 years of age or persons over 45 years of age.
• €13,000 for a full-time contract when hiring persons over 55 years of age.

Additional increases apply to these amounts:

• +10% when the contract is entered into with women.
• +15% for long-term unemployed persons (registered as job seekers for at least 360 days in the 540 days prior to hiring).

Under the general scheme, the final amount of the aid may not exceed 75% of the annual wage costs of the person hired. For groups with a higher amount, the limit is 100%. For part-time contracts, the subsidy will be proportional to the working hours.

Application deadlines and submission

The call is structured in two consecutive application phases:

• Phase 1: from the day following publication in the BOTHA (18 August 2026) until 15 October 2026, inclusive.
• Phase 2: from 16 October 2026 until 15 February 2027, inclusive.

The granting procedure is simple concurrence, meaning that aid is granted in order of entry registration until the credit is exhausted. Applications may be submitted through the electronic office of the Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council, in person at the council’s technical offices (San Martín Building, C/ Pintor Teodoro Dublang) or at the citizen service offices (OAC) in the civic centre network, by prior appointment. Submission is also possible at Correos offices.

The mandatory documentation includes, among others, an application in accordance with Annexes I and II, certificates of average workforce from the Social Security, a copy of the signed contract, a census certificate and proof of registration with Lanbide for the person hired.

Requirements for companies and priority groups

Companies must be up to date with their fiscal, labour and tax obligations with the Provincial Treasury, the Social Security and the city council itself. They may not have final sanctions for discrimination or incur the prohibitions set out in Article 13 of Law 38/2003 of 17 November, General Law on Subsidies.

The persons to be hired must meet additional requirements:

• Be registered in Vitoria-Gasteiz the day before hiring.
• Be in a situation of unemployment (not registered in any Social Security scheme) and registered as job seekers with Lanbide the day immediately before hiring.

The call explicitly prioritizes labor market integration for people with special difficulties accessing employment, which is reflected in the enhanced amounts for recipients of minimum income benefits, young people under 35, those over 45 and, especially, those over 55.

The full text of the rules can be consulted on the municipal website www.vitoria-gasteiz.org and at citizen service offices, as well as in the National Subsidies Database (BDNS 924199). The agreement of the Local Government Board may be appealed optionally by filing a motion for reconsideration before the same Board within one month, or by filing a direct administrative contentious appeal before the Administrative Contentious Courts of Vitoria-Gasteiz within two months, in accordance with articles 123 and 124 of Law 39/2015, of 1 October, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations.

Source: Official Bulletin of the Historical Territory of Álava (BOTHA), No. 93, 17 August 2026, section II – Local Administration (official references: 2026-02425 and 2026-02426; BDNS 924199).