Álava approves agricultural aid against droughts, frosts, and hail

The Foral Government Council of the Provincial Council of Álava approved Foral Decree 38/2026, of October 27, which approves the regulatory bases for aid intended to reinforce the adaptation, resilience, and sustainability of the Alavese agricultural sector against the effects of climate change. The provision, signed in Vitoria-Gasteiz on October 27, 2026, is published in the Official Gazette of the Historical Territory of Álava (BOTHA) number 128, of Friday, November 6, 2026, with official reference 2026-03187, and enters into force the day following its publication.

The text, promoted by the Department of Agriculture of the Provincial Council of Álava, justifies the intervention on the grounds that climate change “has ceased to be an exceptional phenomenon to become a structural factor” of the territory’s primary sector. The statement of measures lists the risks already observed: prolonged droughts that reduce water availability for crops, heatwaves that slow down or paralyze the physiological activity of plants, late frosts that cause the abortion of flowering or fruit set, and intense storms with hail or strong winds that damage production. The Provincial Council maintains that these episodes affect the economic viability of the farms, aggravated by the volatility of raw material markets.

The foral competence is supported by article 7.b) of Law 27/1983, of November 25, on Relations between the Common Institutions of the Autonomous Community and the Foral Organs of its Historical Territories, and by Foral Decree 152/2023, of June 30, modified by Foral Decree 78/2024, of June 28. The decree bears the signature of the General Deputy, Ramiro González Vicente, the Foral Deputy for Agriculture, Noemí Aguirre Quintana, and the Director of Agriculture, David Fernández Sarabia. Furthermore, it modifies Annex III of the Strategic Subsidy Plan approved by Agreement 872/2022, of December 28, and amended by Agreement 5/2025, of January 7, as the line was not included in the current plan.

Two lines of aid: area-based premiums and investment subsidies

Annex I organizes the program into two strategic lines that will be activated through calls for applications approved by the Department of Agriculture:

• Preservation of competitiveness in the face of adverse events derived from climate change: exceptional support measures for unpredictable episodes causing serious damage to the agricultural sector, which will be specified in each call for applications and justified by a report from the department’s technical services.
• Improvement of farm resilience to climate change: grants for investments that prevent, reduce, or mitigate the effects of adverse climatic conditions on structures, facilities, equipment, and production systems.

The first line will be materialized as a premium calculated based on the crop area or the number of animals, using the CAP Single Application, administrative records, or other official sources as a reference. The second will consist of a grant on the eligible investment or expenditure, with intensities, minimum and maximum amounts to be established in each call.

Competitive bidding without evaluation criteria

The grants will be awarded on a competitive bidding basis, but no evaluation criteria will be set: if the reserved credit is insufficient to pay the maximum amount to all applicants who meet the requirements, a pro-rata distribution will be applied. If one of the two lines leaves surplus credit, the excess may be reassigned to the other.

As a positive action measure, provided for in article 15.c) of Law 8/2015, of October 15, of the Statute of Women Farmers, farms owned by a woman, under joint ownership, or by a legal entity with at least 50% of shares in the hands of women when there are two female partners, and 40% in other cases, will receive the full amount without pro-rating. The managing body will also collect sex-disaggregated data to evaluate the impact of the aid.

Farm registry, ten days to rectify and six months to resolve

Eligible beneficiaries may be natural and legal persons who meet, among other requirements:

• Being the owner of a farm registered in the Agricultural Holdings Registry of the Historical Territory of Álava.
• Being up to date with tax and Social Security obligations.
• Having no pending grant repayments or sanctioning proceedings from the Department of Agriculture.
• Not having been sanctioned for gender-based discrimination.
• Submitting a declaration of de minimis aid received in the current financial year and the two previous ones.

Defects in the applications shall be rectified within ten business days. The maximum period for issuing and notifying the resolution shall be six months from the end of the application period, with negative administrative silence; the resolution exhausts the administrative route and is subject to contentious-administrative appeal before the High Court of Justice of the Basque Country. Beneficiaries must retain the supporting documentation for at least four years from the date of payment.

Provincial funding and fit within State aid

The resources will come from the budget credits of the Provincial Council of Álava. The calls for applications will determine the applicable State aid regime: the de minimis regime of Regulation (EU) 1408/2013, of December 18, 2013, or, when requirements are met, Regulation (EU) 2022/2472, of December 14, 2022. The aid will be compatible with other grants provided that the accumulation limits are not exceeded and overfunding does not occur.

The decree has an immediate political precedent: Motion 77/2026, of October 28, approved by the plenary of the General Assemblies of Álava and signed by its president, Irma Basterra Ugarriza, which urges the Provincial Council and the Basque Government to request the declaration of Álava as a drought zone, improve irrigation infrastructure, and process and pay climate aid within a period of less than six months.

The impact is twofold: the regulation enables for the first time a stable provincial framework to compensate for climate damages and finance adaptation investments across the entire primary sector of Álava, although it does not yet commit specific amounts, as these must be set in each annual call. For farmers and livestock breeders, the effective payment schedule will depend on those calls and the budget credit reserved.

Source: Official Gazette of the Historical Territory of Álava, no. 128, of November 6, 2026, section I (Provincial Decrees of the Provincial Government Council), p. 1 (official reference: 2026-03187).