A call for €175,000 to promote women's entrepreneurship and female talent.

Miguel Torres Lorenzo, Second Vice-President and Minister for Economy, Labour and Employment of the Basque Government, has signed the 2026 grant call for associations and non-profit organizations whose aim is the inclusion of women’s entrepreneurship and female talent in the governing bodies of companies and institutions. The order containing the rules and the call for applications is dated 20 July 2026 and was published in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country (EHAA, No. 154) on 14 August 2026, under reference 2026/3608. The deadline for submitting applications is one month, counting from the day following publication.

The order allocates €175,000 to these grants, from the payment credit of the 2026 General Budgets of the Basque Autonomous Community. The grants are not considered State aid, since the conditions of Article 107(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union are not met, and no prior EU procedure is required.

Underpinning the legal framework are Legislative Decree 1/2023 (the consolidated text of the Law on Equality of Women and Men and on Lives Free of Male Violence against Women), Law 15/2023 on Employment, and the 2030 Basque Employment Strategy, which includes the commitment to gender equality (key action 4.1). The call is integrated into the 2025-2028 Strategic Plan for Grants of the Department of Economy, Labour and Employment.

Two grant lines, €175,000

The order establishes two lines, depending on the characteristics of the applicants:

• Line 1 — €150,000 for basic general-purpose expenses; €100,000 will be distributed equally among organizations that obtain at least 30 points (up to seven), and the remaining €50,000 among the five organizations with the highest scores, in percentages of 30%, 25%, 20%, 15% and 10%.
• Line 2 — €25,000 to develop and strengthen women’s associations with a smaller social base or financial capacity; the amount will be distributed into €10,000, €8,750 and €6,250.

Who can apply and what activities

Beneficiaries may be associations and non-profit organizations that are independent of the Administration, provided they meet the following requirements:

• be legally constituted at least two years before the publication of the call;
• carry out their main economic activity in the Basque Autonomous Community;
• have among their objectives, included in their statutes for at least two years, the inclusion of women’s entrepreneurship and/or female talent in governing bodies;
• be up to date with their tax and Social Security obligations.

Eligible expenses include, among others, maintenance costs of premises, activities to strengthen the organizations, support for women’s entrepreneurship and for women’s access to management, networks of women entrepreneurs and directors, and promoting their visibility. Expenses must be incurred and paid between 1 January and 31 December 2026.

Deadlines and procedures

Applications must be submitted through the electronic headquarters of the Basque Public Administration (euskadi.eus), using the forms available in the procedure file (1112306), and subsequent procedures will be carried out through “My Folder”. The resolution must be notified within four months from the day after publication; the first payment, 50%, will be made 15 days after the final resolution is signed. Justification must be submitted before January 7, 2027, and the account justification for the second payment before January 8.

The committee for evaluating applications will be led by María Aranzazu Martínez Tobalina (Employment Directorate), with Edurne Barañano Etxebarria, Nagore Uriarte Egurrola and Mercedes Oca Mayo as members, and Ana Isabel Barreno Marto and Lidia Barrutia Arregi as alternates.

The call is of special importance for associations working on gender equality: with two lines, the department aims to support even the smallest organisations and, at the same time, facilitate women’s access to decision-making spaces. The grants make a direct contribution to the employment equality goals for 2030, on the path towards strengthening the presence of female talent in the business world of the Basque Country.

Source: Boletín Oficial del País Vasco (EHAA), issue 154, August 14, 2026, section OTRAS DISPOSICIONES, pp. 1-34 (official reference: 2026/3608).