Canary Islands call for nine million for business projects in disruptive technologies

The Regional Ministry of Universities, Science, Innovation and Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands has announced, on a competitive basis, grants totaling 9 million euros for projects involving the development and manufacturing of fundamental and emerging strategic technologies. The call is approved by the Order of October 16, 2026, signed by the Minister Migdalia María Machín Tavío, and its summary is published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (Boletín Oficial de Canarias) no. 218, dated October 30, 2026 (BDNS 936158).

The framework is Regulation (EU) 2024/795 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of February 29, which creates the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP). The regulatory bases are Order no. 369/2026, of June 5, published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands no. 122, dated June 19, 2026. The summary is disseminated in accordance with articles 17.3.b) and 20.8.a) of the General Subsidies Law 38/2003, of November 17, and the full text is available in the National Subsidies Database.

The stated purpose is to support and promote the development, by Canarian companies, of relevant and high-quality activity based on disruptive technologies that provide solutions to the strategic challenges identified by the European regulation. The entire call is 100% co-financed by the ERDF Canary Islands Program 2021-2027, under priority P1.C STEP and specific objective RSO1.6, supporting investments that contribute to the platform’s objectives.

Requirements: companies with registered office and activity in the islands

Companies that meet the following conditions before the application deadline may be beneficiaries:

• Be validly constituted and possess their own legal personality.
• Have their registered social and tax office and a permanent establishment in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands.
• Have one or more employees on staff.
• Demonstrate an explicit commitment to equality between women and men.
• Be up to date with tax obligations, Social Security, and the repayment of subsidies.
• Not operate in the sectors excluded by Article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2831, of December 13, on de minimis aid.

Entities subject to the causes of prohibition provided for in base 3 of the order of bases are excluded.

Between 500,000 and 1.5 million per project

The call amounts to nine million euros (€9,000,000.00), charged to the budget application 1705.463C.770.0200 P.I. 257G0195 “Conv. Aid Support Priv. Company Development”. The distribution by annual installments is as follows:

• 2026: 3,000,000.00 euros.
• 2027: 3,000,000.00 euros.
• 2028: 3,000,000.00 euros.

The individualized amount per project will have a minimum of 500,000.00 euros and a maximum of 1,500,000.00 euros, including indirect costs. The maximum aid intensities for experimental development are 45% for small enterprises, 35% for medium-sized enterprises, and 25% for large enterprises; these limits may be increased by 15 points up to a maximum of 60% of the eligible cost when the results are widely disseminated through conferences, publications, open-access databases, or free or open-source computer programs.

The amount may be increased with other credits allocated for these purposes, without this requiring a new call for applications, and the granting is conditional upon the existence of adequate and sufficient credit. The grant will not be compatible with other aid or income for the same purpose, particularly those coming from the same structural fund within the framework of other operational programs.

Fifteen business days and execution until June 2029

The application submission period is 15 business days, from 9:00 AM on the day following the publication of the summary in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands until 2:00 PM on the final day. Processing is electronic, through the procedure enabled on the electronic headquarters of the Government of the Canary Islands (reference 11114), and the evaluation is governed by the criteria and scores of base 15 of Order No. 369/2026.

Projects must have a minimum term of one year and a maximum of three. The start and end dates will be set in the granting resolution, with a non-extendable limit: execution may not extend beyond June 30, 2029, to meet the program’s closing requirements. Any possible extension may not exceed half of the initially granted term. The payment of each annual installment will be made in advance, following the establishment of a guarantee by the beneficiary through a joint and several guarantee.

The call opens a relevant financing route for the Canarian productive fabric: it allows companies in the islands to undertake long-range and high-cost technological developments with up to 1.5 million per project, but requires effective roots in the archipelago, its own staff, and the capacity to provide the remaining financing. The support of ERDF and the STEP framework link these grants to the industrial policy and strategic autonomy of the European Union, such that the selected projects may be presented as a direct contribution to those objectives in future community calls.

Source: Official Gazette of the Canary Islands, no. 218, of October 30, 2026, V. Announcements (Other announcements), page 39223 (official reference: BDNS 936158).