Canary Islands call for 400,000 euros for the land distribution of printed press

The Government of the Canary Islands has announced 400,000 euros in grants to compensate print press publishing companies with their own masthead in the archipelago for the costs of transport and land distribution of printed newspapers carried out in 2024 and 2025. The call was approved by a resolution dated October 9, 2026, from the Vice-Ministry of Communication and Media Relations, signed by the Vice-Minister José Jonathan Domínguez Roger, and is published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (BOC) no. 213, of October 23, 2026, with its summary in the announcements section. The call is processed under a competitive bidding regime and is listed in the National Grants Database with the identifier 935299.

The file stems from an explicit diagnosis: the printed daily press has been reducing its distribution in the non-capital islands and in the non-metropolitan areas of the capital islands. The rising cost of paper, transport costs, and the development of digital editions have diminished the profitability of distribution to the point that, according to the published text, the interiors of the capital islands and the non-capital islands reached a point of having no newspaper distribution at all. The Canarian Government considers the written press a “structuring” tool of democratic society and warns that its loss generates a sense of displacement within the insular territory.

The allocation is charged to the budget application 06.12.921J.47002, project 064G2695 “Daily print press publishing companies,” from the General Budgets of the Autonomous Community for 2026, and is framed within the Strategic Grants Plan of the Government Presidency. This is the first time that the regulatory bases are included in the call itself, relying on article 14.5.a) of Decree 36/2009, and the aid is subject to the de minimis regime of Regulation (EU) 2023/2831, with a ceiling of 300,000 euros per company over three years.

Who can apply and what expenses are covered

• Beneficiaries may be companies that own or publish daily newspaper titles with general local content, their own editorial staff, printed on paper, and with a registered office in the Canary Islands.
• Expenses actually incurred and invoiced in 2024 and 2025 and paid by March 31, 2026, with bank justification, are financed.
• This includes own personnel dedicated to delivery, per diems for linked personnel, leasing or depreciation of delivery vehicles, fuel, maintenance and repairs, and outsourced distribution services.
• For private vehicles, an amount of 0.26 euros per kilometer is permitted, in accordance with Order HFP/793/2023.
• Subcontracted distribution may not exceed 60,000 euros for the entire period nor 50% of the subsidized activity.
• Editorial or writing expenses, advertising, financial expenses, recoverable taxes, and investments not linked to delivery are excluded.

Amounts, deadlines, and processing

The maximum amount per beneficiary is 100,000 euros, and the aid may never exceed the effectively justified expenditure. The deadline for submitting applications is 20 calendar days from the day following publication, therefore concluding on November 12, 2026; applications are submitted through the electronic office of the Government of the Canary Islands. The maximum period to resolve and notify is three months, with the stated objective that the resolution be approved before the end of October and the payment be made before the close of 2026. Applications for 60,000 euros or more require a justification account with an auditor’s report. The assessment is carried out by a Valuation Commission chaired by a representative of the Vice-Ministry, with a secretary from the Presidency of the Government and two members.

Where the newspaper must reach

The scoring criteria prioritize the actual extent of delivery: up to 35 points for territorial reach in the non-capital islands (El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, Lanzarote, and Fuerteventura), up to 35 points for covering more than 50% of the difficult-to-access or low-density municipalities of Tenerife and Gran Canaria, and up to 30 points for maintaining uninterrupted distribution in 2024 and 2025. A minimum of 30 points is required to qualify for the aid and, in the event of a tie, the greatest municipal coverage is prioritized.

The territorial scope expressly excludes Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Telde, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and San Cristóbal de La Laguna, the four municipalities where, according to the resolution, no decrease or elimination of distribution in kiosks or points of sale has been detected.

The call for applications arrives at a time when the distribution of printed press within the islands faces its greatest risk of continuity due to transport costs. For Canarian publishing companies, it represents a means of compensating expenses already incurred, with a tight schedule: those wishing to apply for the funds must justify routes, vehicles, and invoices within twenty calendar days.

Source: Official Gazette of the Canary Islands, no. 213, of October 23, 2026, III. Other Resolutions, page 38193 (official reference: BDNS 935299).