Cantabria approves the bases for aid to digitalize retail trade.

The Official Gazette of Cantabria publishes this Monday, August 17, Order IND/40/2026, of August 7, by which the Department of Industry, Employment, Innovation and Trade approves the regulatory bases for subsidies to promote e-commerce in the retail distribution sector of Cantabria. The regulation, signed by the regional minister Eduardo C. Arasti Barca, establishes a competitive bidding regime under an abbreviated procedure aimed at small businesses and self-employed workers with a physical establishment or itinerant sales in the region.

The order is issued under the exclusive powers in domestic trade and promotion of economic development that the Statute of Autonomy of Cantabria attributes to the Autonomous Community (article 24, paragraphs 13 and 14), and by virtue of article 35.f) of Law of Cantabria 5/2018, of November 22, on the Legal Regime of the Government. The regional government justifies the measure based on the strategic weight of retail trade for employment, economic activity and territorial cohesion, and on the need to adapt small businesses to changing consumption habits and the growth of digital channels. The aid falls under the de minimis regime of Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2831, of December 13, 2023.

Beneficiaries and requirements

Small businesses and self-employed workers in retail trade, complementary services to trade and itinerant sales that meet certain size and activity conditions may apply for the aid:

• Staff of fewer than 50 people and annual turnover or total balance sheet of less than 10 million euros, without holdings exceeding 25% of the capital by companies that exceed those limits.
• Permanent physical establishment open to the public located in Cantabria; for non-sedentary trade, only street markets and shop-vehicles with tax domicile in the region are admitted.
• Main activity included in the eligible IAE headings: groups 64 and 65 and categories 661, 662, 663, 691, 755, 856, 971, 972, 973 and 975.
• A single application per entity and a single beneficiary per establishment, with express exclusion of business-to-business trade.

Eligible actions and expenses

The bases regulate projects for the implementation, improvement and consolidation of online sales solutions: design or redesign of websites with sales functionalities, e-commerce systems with digital catalogue, shopping cart, order management and secure payment gateways, integration with business management systems (ERP) and mobile applications, web positioning, digital marketing and CRM tools, connection with marketplace platforms, software licenses, domains, SSL certificates, hosting and computer security solutions.

Consulting and technical assistance expenses are financed, including staff training, and the costs of the first two years of domain registration, hosting and maintenance of the sales channel. Excluded, among others, are the acquisition of computer equipment, mobile phones and tablets, VAT, commissions from third-party platform sales, current expenses and in-house staff.

Amounts and procedure

The minimum eligible investment is 1,500 euros (VAT excluded) and the aid generally reaches 50% of the expenditure, with a maximum of 5,000 euros per beneficiary. The percentage rises to 60% when the company has joined the Consumer Arbitration System through the Consumer Arbitration Board of Cantabria and belongs to a merchants’ association registered in the Register of Merchants’ Associations of Cantabria; if there is remaining credit, the intensity may be raised to 70% (80% in that case), with a cap of 9,000 euros.

Applications are processed in order of temporal precedence until budget credit is exhausted, with the proceedings conducted by the Directorate General for Trade and Consumer Affairs and the decision issued within a maximum period of six months. The calls for applications will be published in the Official Gazette of Cantabria and in the National Database of Grants, and will set the submission deadline; legal entities must submit them through the General Electronic Registry (sede.cantabria.es).

Obligations of the beneficiaries

Subsidised businesses must keep the funded digital assets —websites, platforms, applications, domains and licences— in operation for at least two years and maintain their membership of the Consumer Arbitration Board of Cantabria for one year when the aid reaches 60% or 80%. Failure to comply with the purpose obligation may lead to partial repayments of between 5% and 25% of the grant.

The order, which enters into force on 18 August, the day after its publication, paves the way for an upcoming call with which the Government of Cantabria wants regional small businesses to compete on equal terms in the digital channel. For Cantabrian merchants and self-employed workers, it represents the possibility of financing their leap to online sales, with an additional incentive for those linked to consumer arbitration and sector associations.

Source: Official Gazette of Cantabria, No. 157, 17 August 2026, pp. 37480-37493 (official reference: CVE-2026-6512, Order IND/40/2026).