Youth renews the basis for grants to the youth associative fabric at the state level

The Ministry of Youth and Childhood has renewed the public aid regime destined for the youth associative fabric of national scope. Order JUI/1097/2026, of October 5, published in the Official State Gazette on Monday, October 19, 2026 (number 259, section III, page 139738), replaces the bases in force since 2015 and establishes the conditions for financing the maintenance, operation, and equipment of these entities. The regulation, signed by Minister Sira Abed Rego, enters into force on November 8, twenty days after its publication.

The order expressly repeals Order SSI/1204/2015, of June 16, which had governed these grants since its publication on June 22, 2015. The department justifies the change based on the entry into force of Law 39/2015, of October 1, on Common Administrative Procedure, and the successive modifications of the General Subsidies Law 38/2003, of November 17, whose article 17 requires that the regulatory bases be approved by ministerial order and published in the BOE.

The grants will be awarded by the Youth Institute, an autonomous body attached to the ministry through the Secretary of State for Youth and Childhood according to Royal Decree 211/2024, of February 27, and whose Statute was approved by Royal Decree 608/2025, of July 8. The procedure will always be through competitive bidding and will be initiated ex officio via a call by the head of the General Directorate of the Youth Institute, published in the National Subsidies Database with an extract in the BOE. The annual allocation will be established in the General State Budget Law. The regulation is issued under article 149.1.1.ª of the Spanish Constitution.

Who can apply and what is financed

Beneficiaries may be non-profit entities registered in the corresponding state registry that prove a national scope of action and a headquarters open and operating in several autonomous communities:

• Youth associations, federations, and confederations of youth associations.
• Youth sections of social entities or non-governmental organizations, composed of members between 14 and 30 years old with recognized statutory autonomy.
• Entities providing services to youth dedicated exclusively to activities in favor of youth.

Public bodies and entities, universities, political parties, professional associations, sports federations, official chambers of commerce, industry and navigation, and civil societies are excluded.

Eligible expenses are limited to the central structures of the entity: rental of premises and technical equipment, energy, water, gas, and fuel supplies, insurance policies, telephony, internet, mail and courier services, non-inventoriable materials, travel and subsistence, accounting, legal, labor, and financial consultancy or external auditing, gross annual staff remuneration, and the acquisition of equipment. Debit interest, penalties, assets that increase equity, investment works, amortizations, purchase of advertising spaces, and expenses for local headquarters will not be financed.

Scoring, bodies, and deadlines

The evaluation is distributed over one hundred points: seniority, up to 15; degree of territorial implementation and representativeness, up to 20; participation of young people between 18 and 30 years old in members and governing bodies, up to 10; and structure and management capacity, up to 55, with criteria such as equity, budget, equality plans, external audits, volunteering, and adequacy of human resources. Youth sections that provide data from their parent entity will lose ten points.

The instruction corresponds to the Sub-Directorate General for Information, Programs, and Equality of the Youth Institute, and the assessment to a joint Evaluation Commission chaired by that same body, with three memberships from the Institute and one from the Secretary of State. The resolution is issued by the Directorate General of the Youth Institute within fifteen days of the proposal and, in any case, within a maximum of six months from the publication of the call; silence constitutes a rejection.

The application period will be set by each call and may not exceed one month from the day following the publication of the summary in the BOE. Documentary defects shall be rectified within ten business days, and there will be ten days of hearing regarding the provisional proposal.

Advance payments and justification

The grants will be paid under an advance payment regime, and the beneficiaries are exempt from providing a guarantee. They will be compatible with other subsidies or income for the same purpose, provided that the total does not exceed the cost of the activity. The justification must be submitted by January 31 of the second year following the grant, with an ordinary justification account or an auditor’s report; for amounts below 60,000 euros, a simplified justification account will be accepted. Expenses must be executed before December 31 of the year following the grant.

The order reaches the state youth associative fabric at a time of complete renewal of its funding framework: entities applying for the next call will no longer be governed by the 2015 scheme, but by more detailed distribution criteria and an entirely electronic procedure. For organizations based in several autonomous communities, these grants remain the primary means of sustaining their structures and staff.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 259, October 19, 2026, section III, page 139738 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-21775).