The Department of Health has called for local grants agains…

The Department of Health has issued a call for grants addressed to local entities in the field of addictions, to implement the VIII. Addictions Plan in the local and community spheres of the Basque Country. The call is regulated by the order signed by the Health Minister Alberto Martínez Ruiz on September 22, 2026, and was published in the BOPV official gazette, issue number 189, on October 2, 2026, with official reference 2026/4084. The maximum amount of the call is 1,201,328.75 euros, charged to the General Budgets of the Basque Country approved by Law 7/2025 of December 23, 2025.

Regulatory Framework and Background

The call is based on the integral model established by Law 1/2016 —on Comprehensive Care for Addictions and Drug Dependence— and will be processed according to the procedure established by Law 20/2023 —the Regulatory Regime for Grants—. Likewise, the Basque Country 2030 Health Plan and the VIII. Addictions Plan 2023-2027 are the strategic references for the activity, both of which prioritize the local and community spheres as development areas. The organic structure of the Department is specified by Decree 319/2024, in which the Directorate of Public Health and Addictions is responsible for defining the comprehensive policy in this field.

Beneficiaries and Program

Local entities of the Basque Autonomous Community may submit an application if they manage community addiction approach and prevention programs within their territory, either directly or in collaboration with specialized organizations. Each local entity may submit a single application to finance a program consisting of a set of structured projects.

The programs must include activities to implement the VIII. Addictions Plan, including among others:

Promoting structural measures to foster healthy environments.
Strengthening interventions to reduce and control the supply of addictive substances.
Strengthening prevention across all stages of life: childhood, adolescence, youth, and adulthood.
Defining and expanding pathways for people with addictions and reducing the stigma associated with them.
Strengthening the comprehensive care of problematic behaviors related to gambling and the abusive use of technologies.
Promoting research and innovation in the field of addictions, and boosting the counseling and competence of sector professionals.
Strengthening networking among organizations involved in the approach and prevention of addictions.

Amount and Payment

The Department may finance a maximum of 50% of the total program budget, and a single local entity cannot receive more than 6% of the total credits of the call. Payment is split: 80% is paid after the grant is approved, and the remaining 20% after the submission of the justification report, before March 1, 2027.

Only the direct costs of the project are eligible for funding. The purchase of real estate and the costs of personnel participating in the program will in no case be eligible for funding.

Deadlines and Processing

Application period: 15 business days, starting from the day following the publication of the order in the BOPV official gazette.
Processing is exclusively electronic, via the electronic headquarters of the Public Administration of the Basque Country, and notifications will be made through electronic means.
Period to correct errors in applications: 10 business days.
The resolution must be published in the BOPV official gazette before December 31, 2026, and the publication will have the effect of a notification.

Evaluation and resolution

Grants will be awarded through a competitive process, and 100 points will be distributed: technical quality of the design (maximum 40), population coverage (maximum 10), coordinated cooperation with other organizations (maximum 10), the trajectory of the local organization (maximum 5), impact on particularly vulnerable groups (maximum 20), and the gender dimension (maximum 15).

The evaluation committee will be led by Director Guillermo Herrero Alaña as president, and Beatriz Nuin González, Joseba Bidaurrazaga Van-Dierdonck, Francisco Borja Cirarda Larrea, Elena Albisua Cortazar, María Blanco Egaña, Koldo Cambra Contin, and Raquel Garay Gómez will be members. The resolution will be issued by the Undersecretary of Health and Digital Transformation, and it does not exhaust the administrative route: local organizations may file an appeal for reversal before the Minister of Health within one month, or a contentious-administrative appeal before the High Court of Justice of the Basque Autonomous Community within two months.

This call provides local organizations with a way to finance their community programs for the prevention of addictions, but it imposes strict conditions: it only covers half of the project cost, excludes staff expenses, and the justification must be submitted before March 1, 2027. Therefore, the impact will depend on each municipality’s ability to design structured and measurable projects, and the resolution must be published before December 31.

Fuente: BOPV, No. 189, October 2, 2026, Section I (OTRAS DISPOSICIONES), pp. 1-13 (official reference: 2026/4084).