The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge has decided to reduce the minimum investment threshold required to apply for aid intended for small business projects in municipalities facing a demographic challenge located in just transition areas, from 30,000 to 6,000 euros, with the intention of facilitating access for nearby shops and services.
This modification is integrated into the update of the regulatory bases of the two lines of aid from the Institute for Just Transition (ITJ), aimed at business projects that generate employment and small investment projects, included in Order TED/1171/2026, released this Friday in the Official State Gazette (BOE).
As the Ministry has stated in a press release, the changes seek to adjust the conditions to the reality of businesses and the effective timelines for carrying out their investments, using as reference the experience of the 2023 and 2025 calls, while also optimizing the use of the resources of the Just Transition Fund, which co-finances these measures.
The reduction in the minimum amount is intended to particularly benefit small businesses located in municipalities with fewer than 500 inhabitants, where the amounts needed to start or sustain economic activity are often lower.
The 2025 call already expanded the list of activities eligible for support to include bars, restaurants, retail shops, hairdressers, and other local-character services. Under the new regulatory framework, the department seeks to back initiatives of smaller scale that help preserve economic activity, essential services, and employment in towns affected by the closure of energy facilities.
More room to carry out investments
The order also incorporates greater flexibility in the execution of employment-generating business projects, especially those of an industrial type that require environmental authorizations, activity licenses, or other administrative permits before investment can begin.
To date, companies were required to have carried out and paid at least 15% of the subsidisable investment in the first nine months after the grant was awarded. The new rules remove that condition and replace it with the obligation to justify a minimum execution of 8% at the time of requesting a project extension, which may be requested two years after the grant-awarding resolution.
Similarly, a more proportionate criterion is established in the event of partial breaches of the investment or job-creation commitments. In this way, the reduction of the subsidy will be limited to the portion linked to the unmet commitment, instead of affecting the entirety of the aid awarded.
Two new calls for applications with 50 million euros
These changes will be applied in the next two calls for applications that the ITJ is preparing, funded jointly with 50 million euros. One of them will be aimed at business projects that generate employment and the other will focus on small investment projects.
The grants will allow support to continue for the economic diversification of the territories affected by the closure of coal mines, coal-fired power plants, and nuclear power plants, both through the launch of new productive activities and through the maintenance and strengthening of the local business fabric.
The publication of the order takes place one day after the institute resolved the 2025 call for applications for employment-generating business projects, granting 22.3 million euros to 35 initiatives. These projects will mobilise close to 93 million euros in investment and include the creation of 435 jobs, according to the Ministry.