The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, through the Spanish Agricultural Guarantee Fund (FEAGA), will begin transferring a total of 779 million euros to the Junta de Andalucía from this Friday until November 30 so that it can make the payment of the advances of the direct aids of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) linked to the applications submitted in 2026.
The advance disbursement of these aids is an optional possibility for the regional paying agencies, so it is the communities themselves that decide whether to activate it, when to do so, and to which lines of aid, among those provided for in the state regulations, it applies. Before authorizing any payment, it is mandatory to carry out prior controls in order to ensure the correct use of the funds from the European Union (EU), as indicated by the Government Delegation in a press release.
In the context of the current crisis arising from the conflict in the Middle East and its impact on international markets, especially due to the increase in fertilizer prices, the European Commission has decided to relax the date from which advances can be paid in this campaign, as long as the controls are completed. In addition, it has raised the maximum limit of said advance to 75% of the total aid.
The objective of this decision is to provide more liquidity to EU farmers and ranchers at the beginning of the agricultural campaign, with the intention of mitigating the effects of the aforementioned crisis. The ordinary payment schedule for direct aids will start on December 1, from which point the autonomous communities will be able to pay up to 90% of the corresponding amount.
The full disbursement of the aids will be authorized once the final unit amounts of the direct aids are set, expected for the month of May. The ordinary payment period will conclude on June 30, 2027, although there is the possibility of making residual payments until October 15, the closing date of the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (Feaga), when 4.897 billion euros will have been distributed in direct aids to the sector.
In the state sphere, the autonomous communities integrated into the pre-financing system of the CAP funds, coordinated by the Spanish Agricultural Guarantee Fund (FEGA), have submitted their forecasts for advance payments amounting to 2.691 billion euros, of which they estimate that around 1.700 billion euros will be paid in the second half of October.
The interventions of direct aid for which advance payments are allowed in 2026 are the Basic Income Aid for Sustainability and its complementary payments (redistributive payment and payment to young people); Eco-schemes and Associated Aid, excluding from this advance the associated aid for fattening calves and the specific payment for cotton, which can be satisfied starting from December 1.