Ceuta declares the third call for youth employment grants void

The third call for grants for the indefinite hiring of young people registered in the National Youth Guarantee System has gone uncontested in Ceuta. This was decided by the Decree of the Minister of Finance, Economic Transition, and Digital Transformation, Kissy Chandiramani Ramesh, dated October 1, 2026, published in the Official Gazette of the Autonomous City of Ceuta (BOCCE) No. 6,659, on October 9, 2026, under order number 685. The reason is that, after the submission deadline had passed, no applications were recorded.

The call, identified as 2026/3C/FSE5A02, was approved by Decree of the Ministry of Finance on April 6, 2026, an extract of which was published in BOCCE No. 6,608, on April 14, 2026. The specific regulatory bases date from November 13, 2024 (BOCCE No. 6,464, of November 26, 2024) and were modified on April 3, 2025 (BOCCE No. 6,503, of April 11, 2025).

The instructing body is PROCESA, Sociedad de Desarrollo de Ceuta, S.A., and the granting body is the Minister of Finance, Economic Transition, and Digital Transformation, according to the Plenary Agreement of the Assembly of Ceuta of November 22, 2023 (Extraordinary BOCCE No. 72). The grants are co-financed by the Autonomous City of Ceuta at 15% and the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) at 85%.

A 100,000 euro call without applications

The available credit for this third call amounted to 100,000.00 euros. The application period opened on the business day following the publication of the call and closed at 1:00 PM on May 29, 2026. The decree states in its findings that, after the submission period for the third call had elapsed, no grant applications were recorded, leaving the call uncontested.

The indefinite hiring of unemployed young people registered in the National Youth Guarantee System was considered a grantable project, admitting hirings made since December 31, 2025, provided that membership in the grantable groups was documented.

Amounts and conditions that remain unexecuted

The maximum amounts planned per contribution group were:

• Group 1 (engineers, graduates, senior management): 10,265 euros.
• Group 2 (technical engineers, experts, qualified assistants): 8,513 euros.
• Group 3 (administrative and workshop managers): 7,405 euros.
• Groups 4-11 (unqualified assistants, administrative officers, subordinates, administrative assistants, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class officers, specialists, laborers, and workers under 18): 7,350 euros.

These amounts were increased by 500.00 euros, on a non-concurrent basis, if the hired person was a woman or had a recognized disability. Permanent employment had to be maintained for a minimum of two years, and the subsidy was calculated at half for part-time work, with working hours lower than the half-time established in the collective agreement not being permitted.

Legal framework and avenues for appeal

The decree invokes Regulation (EU) No 2021/1057 of the European Social Fund Plus, Regulation (EU) No 2021/1060, the General Subsidies Law 38/2003 and its implementing regulation, as well as Law 39/2015 and Law 40/2015. The aid was subject to the de minimis regime of Regulation (EU) No 2023/2831, with a limit of 300,000 euros per company in any three-year period.

The act exhausts the administrative route. An optional appeal for reversal may be filed before the same body that issued it within one month, or a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed before the Contentious-Administrative Court of Ceuta within two months from the receipt of the notification.

The declaration of the call as void leaves European funds destined for youth employment in Ceuta unexecuted and highlights the scarce business response to an incentive designed to integrate young people registered in the Youth Guarantee into the workforce. The result means that the Autonomous City will not be able to apply the amounts provided for permanent hiring in this call, despite the fact that the ESF+ 2021-2027 program sets as a specific objective to improve access to employment for young people.

Source: Official Gazette of the Autonomous City of Ceuta (BOCCE), No. 6,659, October 9, 2026, General Provisions, page 3625 (official reference: order no. 685).