Cantabria opens 100,000 euros in podiatry grants for rural seniors

The Cantabrian Institute of Social Services (ICASS) has approved the 2026-2027 call for grants to finance podiatric care for elderly people in rural areas, with a budget of 100,000 euros. The resolution is published in the Official Gazette of Cantabria number 181, dated September 21, 2026, with reference CVE-2026-7262, and its summary appears in the same edition under reference CVE-2026-7264. Interested entities have a maximum period of 20 business days from the day following the publication of the summary.

The call is based on the regulatory bases of Order ISO/14/2025, of June 18, modified by Order ISO/12/2026, of August 12, 2026, published in the BOC number 158, of August 18, 2026. The promoting body is the Ministry of Social Inclusion, Youth, Families and Equality, which signs the resolution, and management corresponds to ICASS in accordance with Cantabria Law 3/2009.

The text justifies the aid line based on the aging of the community, which reaches 23.48%, and geographical dispersion: the network of Social Centers for the elderly under the direct management of ICASS, transferred from the former IMSERSO, is only present in six municipalities. The first call, for 2025-2026, further revealed that not all municipalities have formally constituted elderly associations, which prompted the expansion of the scope of beneficiaries.

Amounts and covered services

The budget of 100,000 euros is allocated to application 16.00.231D.481, “Elderly associations in rural areas. Podiatric care for the elderly,” of the General Budgets of Cantabria for 2026. The grant per application will be a minimum of 3,000 euros and a maximum of 9,500 euros.

ICASS provides a fixed amount per session:

• 25 euros per service provided in the association’s spaces or in podiatry centers and services.
• 35 euros per service provided at the recipient’s home.
• Up to 15% of the granted amount for user transport expenses.

Each user may receive a maximum of 12 podiatric care services. Subsidizable actions include cutting toenails, nail milling, dehibriding helomas, removing calluses, heel hyperkeratosis, and podiatric advice with treatment recommendations.

Who can apply

Beneficiaries may be non-profit associations and federations in Cantabria that operate in rural areas and include people over 60 years of age among their regular recipients. This expressly includes federations, homes, clubs, and associations for the elderly, as well as women’s, cultural, neighborhood associations, and other associative entities.

The main requirements are:

• Have the registered office, tax domicile, and headquarters in a municipality of Cantabria with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, according to figures from the National Statistics Institute.
• Be registered in the Registry of the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Presidency, Interior, Justice and Foreign Action.
• Not have another grant assigned for the same purpose.
• Prove that elderly people are regular recipients of their activity.

The final recipients are people over 60 years of age registered in Cantabrian municipalities of fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, in localities where the activity is not covered by a guaranteed public benefit.

Assessment, payment, and justification

The assessment is based on a maximum of 80 points and requires reaching at least 40 to obtain the aid. The scale scores the number of members over 60 years old (up to 30 points), the location of the headquarters in municipalities at risk of depopulation according to Order PRE/1/2025, of January 2 (up to 15), the registration seniority (up to 3), equality policies (up to 2), and the content of the project (up to 30). The Assessment Committee is chaired by the head of the Directorate of ICASS and composed of four members from the Sub-directorates and a secretary with a voice but no vote.

Payment is made in advance and in a single installment, without the establishment of guarantees. The activities may have been carried out from July 1, 2026, until June 30, 2027, and the supporting documentation must be submitted by September 15, 2027, at the latest. The award resolution must be issued within a maximum period of six months from the publication of the summary.

The call comes after the first edition of the program highlighted its territorial limits, and now expands the range of entities that can apply. For small municipalities, where the public network of social centers only covers six localities, these grants are the means to bring a basic health service to an aging and dispersed population.

Source: Official Gazette of Cantabria, no. 181, September 21, 2026, section 6. Grants and aid, page 46281 (official reference: CVE-2026-7262).