Cantabria announces 240,000 euros in grants for youth driver's licenses

The Ministry of Social Inclusion, Youth, Families and Equality of the Government of Cantabria has announced grants, on a competitive basis, to cover part of the cost of obtaining driver’s licenses or permits for young people registered in the community. The call, signed on August 19, 2026, by Minister Begoña Gómez del Río, is published in the Official Gazette of Cantabria number 163, dated August 25, 2026, with a global budget of 240,000 euros.

The measure is part of expenditure program 232A of the General Budgets of the Autonomous Community of Cantabria for 2026, whose objective is to “facilitate access for young people to obtain a driver’s license to improve their prospects of entering the labor market.” The call is governed by Order ISO/5/2024, of April 11, which establishes the regulatory bases for these grants, and by Cantabria Law 10/2006, on Subsidies.

Beneficiaries and requirements

Beneficiaries may be young people registered in Cantabria who are between 16 and 30 years old at the time of obtaining the permit or license and who obtained it at a driving school in the region between August 1, 2025, and July 31, 2026, both inclusive. Persons who fall under the causes of incompatibility provided for in Article 12 of Cantabria Law 10/2006 are excluded.

The grant covers up to 200 euros per beneficiary until the credit is exhausted. Each applicant may only submit one application for one of the licenses or permits considered, which include:

• A2 and A (motorcycles and tricycles)
• B and B+E (passenger cars and combinations with trailers)
• C1, C1+E, C and C+E (heavy vehicles)
• D1, D1+E, D and D+E (passenger transport)
• LCM (vehicles for people with reduced mobility)

Deadline and method of submission

Applications, using the official form, may be submitted within 20 business days starting from the day following the publication of the summary of the call in the Official Gazette of Cantabria. Submission should preferably be done electronically through the General Electronic Registry of the electronic headquarters of the Government of Cantabria, and the form can be downloaded from the website of the General Directorate of Youth, Development Cooperation and Volunteering (www.jovenmania.com) or at the offices at calle Valliciergo 8 in Santander.

Along with the application, the invoice certifying the cost paid issued by the driving school and proof of payment must be provided. The call is listed in the National Grants Database with the identifier 925346.

Award criteria

Grants will be awarded based on the temporal priority of the submission of the application, provided it is complete and compliant, until the budget credit is exhausted. In the event of a tie, priority will be given to the youngest applicant and, if the tie persists, it will be resolved by lottery. The competent body for the processing is the General Directorate of Youth, Development Cooperation and Volunteering.

The call for applications affects thousands of young people from Cantabria and the region’s driving schools, which will see the acquisition of licenses incentivized in a context where the driver’s license is considered a key qualification for accessing the labor market, especially in a predominant service sector.

Source: Official Gazette of Cantabria, no. 163, August 25, 2026, section 6. Subsidies and Grants, page 39694 (official reference: CVE-2026-6670) and page 39706 (official reference: CVE-2026-6672).