Canary Islands approve the guidelines for social economy grants

The Ministry of Tourism and Employment of the Government of the Canary Islands has approved the regulatory bases for subsidies, under a competitive bidding process, intended to finance investments made by social economy enterprises in the archipelago. The regulation, signed on September 4, 2026, by Minister Jéssica del Carmen de León Verdugo, is published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands number 186, dated September 16, 2026, and will enter into force the day following its publication.

The text, managed by the Canarian Employment Service (SCE), replaces the previous 2022 regulation and is of an indefinite nature, with the aim of improving efficiency in the allocation of public resources and simplifying the administrative granting procedure.

Purpose and Beneficiaries

The grants are aimed at cooperatives, labor companies, and integration enterprises that carry out their activity within the territory of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, as defined by Law 3/2022, of June 13, on the Social Economy of the Canary Islands. The objective is twofold: to provide financial support for the creation of new social economy enterprises and to incentivize the modernization and innovation of the fixed assets of existing ones.

Investments in tangible and intangible fixed assets are subsidized, including:

• Land and already constructed buildings, for the exclusive use of the beneficiary.
• Computer equipment, technical installations, machinery, tools, and furniture.
• New industrial vehicles or those registered less than three months prior.
• Construction, improvement, conditioning, or renovation works of properties.
• Computer applications with a perpetual license and websites on a proprietary domain.

The minimum cost of each investment must exceed 2,000 euros, excluding IGIC (indirect canary tax), and the actions must not have started in years prior to that of the call for applications.

Grant Amounts

The subsidy is calculated by applying a maximum percentage to the eligible amount of the investment, with the following limits per beneficiary:

• 50% of the acquisition cost of the assets, with a limit of 100,000 euros, for general investments.
• 40% with a limit of 200,000 euros for the acquisition of buildings, works, or land by cooperatives or integration enterprises.
• 40% with a limit of 150,000 euros for these same concepts in the case of labor companies.
• In all cases, the percentage may be increased up to 50% when the investment is intended to establish a headquarters on the islands of La Palma, El Hierro, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, or Lanzarote.

For integration enterprises, the amount may not exceed 750,000 euros as de minimis aid, while the remaining beneficiaries must respect the accumulation limits of the applicable community regimes (300,000, 40,000, and 50,000 euros according to the regulation). Payment will be made in a single installment after justification, although up to 100% may be advanced when the entity proves a lack of resources.

Regulatory framework and validity

The initiative is part of Action Line 2 (“Support system for the social economy”) of the SCE Strategic Grant Plan for the 2025-2027 period, and complies with Law 38/2003, General Law on Subsidies, and Decree 36/2009 on the general subsidy regime of the Canary Islands. The regulation expressly repeals the Order of November 21, 2022, which regulated these grants, and empowers the SCE Directorate for its interpretation and execution.

The period for carrying out the eligible activities will be established in each annual call, and in no case may it exceed September 30 of the year following its publication.

Impact

With this regulation, the Canarian Government consolidates a direct incentive for employment and the social economy, a key sector for the territorial cohesion of the archipelago. By favoring investment in fixed assets, the grants seek both the establishment of new cooperatives, worker-owned companies, and integration enterprises, as well as the maintenance and improvement of existing ones, with reinforced treatment for the non-capital islands.

Source: Official Gazette of the Canary Islands, no. 186, September 16, 2026, I. General provisions, page 34653 (official reference: Order of September 4, 2026, no. 3261).