Cantabria allocates 2.4 million for internships for talented young people

The Ministry of Industry, Employment, Innovation and Trade of the Government of Cantabria has announced the subsidies of the Young Talent Programme, co-financed by the European Union, with a total budget of €2,400,000 aimed at generating work placements under employment contracts that improve the employability of young people in Cantabria. The call is published in Official Gazette of Cantabria number 157, of 17 August 2026, through Order IND/39/2026, of 7 August, which simultaneously establishes the regulatory bases and the call (official reference CVE-2026-6511), together with its extract in the National Database of Subsidies (BDNS 922777, reference CVE-2026-6514).

A programme of its own within the Youth Guarantee

The Young Talent Programme is a programme of the Autonomous Community of Cantabria, included in the Annual Plan for the Promotion of Decent Employment within its Axis 3 “Employment opportunities”. Its objective is to offer qualified young people work experience “in what they have been trained in” and in their closest environment, through contracts for the acquisition of professional practice.

The aid is part of the programming of the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) for the period 2021-2027, which co-finances 60 per cent through the ES-FSE+ C.A. Cantabria 2021-2027 Programme, within the framework of the Youth Guarantee. The Minister of Industry, Employment, Innovation and Trade, Eduardo Arasti Barca, signs the order in Santander on 7 August 2026.

Who the aid is aimed at

Entities of the institutional public sector of Cantabria and non-profit entities may be beneficiaries:

• The University of Cantabria and entities dependent on it.
• Regional commercial companies with public participation equal to or greater than 50 per cent.
• Foundations of the Public Sector of the Autonomous Community.
• Regional public law entities.
• Public law corporations and non-profit associations, foundations, business organisations and trade unions with activity in Cantabria.

The target persons will be unemployed young people, beneficiaries of the National Youth Guarantee System, registered as job seekers with the Cantabrian Employment Service and who meet the requirements to formalise a training contract for obtaining professional practice.

Amounts and conditions of the contracts

The call is distributed between two budget credits: €1,500,000 for entities of the institutional public sector and €900,000 for non-profit entities. The subsidy finances the salary and Social Security costs of the contracts, which will have a duration of twelve months on a full-time basis, with the following amounts per worker:

• €38,902.50/year for Contribution Groups 1 and 2.
• €31,122.00/year for Contribution Groups 3 to 7.
• €23,341.50/year for Contribution Groups 8 to 11.

Applications must be submitted electronically through the General Electronic Registry of the Administration of Cantabria, addressed to the Directorate of the Cantabrian Employment Service, within a period of ten business days counted from the day following the publication of the extract in the Official Gazette of Cantabria. The procedure will be processed under a competitive bidding regime, and payment will be advanced ex officio at 100 percent of the amount without requiring guarantees.

A commitment to first employment

Lack of work experience is one of the main obstacles young people face when entering the labor market, and the Young Talent Program aims to address this by offering professional internships under an employment regime in the closest environment. With this call, co-financed by the European Union, Cantabria strengthens its active employment policies to facilitate the transition of young people to their first job and reduce youth unemployment within the framework of the Youth Guarantee.

Source: Official Gazette of Cantabria, No. 157, August 17, 2026, section 6. Subsidies and Aid, pp. 37442-37479 (official reference: CVE-2026-6511 and CVE-2026-6514).