Grants for an autónomo in 2026: flat rate, Cuota Cero and start-up or hiring aids, community by community

Grants for an autónomo are organised into three layers, and you should look at them in this order. The first is state-wide and does not depend on where you live: the flat rate (reduced Seguridad Social fee, the Spanish social security system), the capitalisation of unemployment benefits and the compatibility of unemployment benefits with your registration. These are rights without a specific call, open all year round.

The second layer is regional and provides the most money: the Cuota Cero, which refunds the fees you already paid; the start-up subsidy, which pays a fixed amount or a percentage of what you invest; and the grant for hiring your first worker. Each community decides if it offers it, how much it pays and until when. As of 5 October 2026, there are communities whose call is permanently open, others with a deadline closing in October or November, and many that have already closed their 2026 call.

The third layer consists of objective-based grants, which an autónomo can also request: for example, the Programa Auto+ to buy an electric vehicle (Line 2, open until 31 December 2026 at 14:00) or grants for taking over a business whose owner is retiring.

What decides if you get paid is usually not the call itself, but your personal deadline: almost all these grants must be requested within 1, 2 or 3 months from registration or the contract, and some require conditions that must be met BEFORE registering. That is why this guide goes community by community and tells you what is open today.

The flat rate is a reduced fee of €80 a month during the first 12 complete calendar months of registration. To this fee, the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (MEI) of 0.9% is added, and the General Treasury of the Seguridad Social itself gives a total of €88.64 a month in its Import@ss guide for 2026. During that period, you do not contribute for cessation of activity or vocational training.

You have the right if it is your first registration in the RETA or if you have not been registered in the previous 2 years (3 years if you already enjoyed the flat rate before). It is also valid for partners of capital companies, employee-owned companies (sociedades laborales) and cooperatives included in the RETA. It is not valid for collaborating family members of the autónomo up to the second degree. If you are in pluriactividad (also working as an employee), you must choose between the flat rate and the specific benefits of pluriactividad.

The critical point is the timing: the law requires requesting it at the time of registration, ticking the reduced fee option on the application itself. It makes no provision for requesting it months later. Registration can be requested up to 60 days before starting the activity.

After the 12 months, you can extend it for another 12 months at the same fee if your expected net earnings are lower than the annual minimum wage (salario mínimo interprofesional, SMI), which in 2026 is €17,094. The extension is requested before that second period begins, with a declaration of earnings. If you end up exceeding it, the Seguridad Social regularises the difference.

If you have a disability equal to or greater than 33%, or are a victim of gender violence or terrorism, the periods are 24 months at €80 and another 36 months if your earnings do not reach the SMI. The Seguridad Social has not yet published the 2026 amount for that second 36-month tranche.

If you deregister during the period, you lose the reduction from that moment, without returning what was already applied. At Managora, we process your registration with the flat rate on your behalf, as well as the extension for the second year; you only sign the document assigning your affiliation to our authorisation before the Seguridad Social. You will find it on the autónomo registration service page and on the autónomo flat rate service page; you can see the updated amount on the service page.

The flat rate is applied by the Seguridad Social and lowers your fee to €80 plus the MEI. The Cuota Cero is paid by your autonomous community and refunds those fees you already paid. Adding both together, your first year of contributions costs you zero. They are not alternatives: the Cuota Cero assumes you are contributing with a reduced or subsidised fee.

The clearest example is the Community of Madrid's Tarifa Cero (zero-fee scheme), which is permanently open. Its line 1 reimburses the reduced or subsidised fees and the MEI paid; its line 2 is for people over 52 who give up the unemployment subsidy to register as autónomos, and pays them an amount equal to the subsidy they stop receiving, for a maximum of 12 months. It is requested in the 3 months following the end of each 12-month period. The electronic office allows a representative with the applicant's authorisation to submit it, so we submit it for you.

Not all communities have it and not all have it open. Andalusia and Galicia closed their 2026 call on 30 September 2026. In the Region of Murcia, you must choose: the SEF start-up grant is incompatible with the Cuota Cero, although it is compatible with the state flat rate.

On the regional Cuota Cero service page, you choose your community and we tell you if your call is open and what your exact window is before charging you anything; you can see the updated amount on the service page.

As of 5 October 2026, a start-up grant can be requested in seven communities. Permanently open: Community of Madrid, Region of Murcia and Cantabria. With a closing date: Basque Country and Aragon (30 October 2026), Navarre (30 November 2026) and La Rioja (11 December 2026 at 14:00). The table summarises the amount and personal deadline for each one.

Community of Madrid: pays 80% of start-up costs, excluding VAT, with a minimum spend of €1,000. From 1 January 2026, the limit is €2,800 in current expenses (€3,400 for under 30s, women, over 45s, long-term unemployed, victims and people with disabilities) plus €2,800 in fixed assets: up to €5,600 or €6,200 in total. Eligible expenses include the gestoría (administrative agency) fees for incorporation and start-up. Expenses must be paid by bank transfer or card between 3 months before and 2 months after the start, and it is requested in the 3 months following the start.

Region of Murcia (SEF, procedure 2097): from €6,000 to €9,000 depending on sex, age and group, with 10% more for victims of gender violence (up to €9,900). It requires a minimum investment of €2,500 excluding VAT in fixed assets, not having been registered in the RETA in the previous 12 months and requesting it in the 2 months following registration.

Cantabria: from €2,000 to €16,920 depending on age, sex, group, municipality and activity. Here the order is different: first you must obtain the viability report from Cantabria Emprendedora and the application goes BEFORE registration, in the 2 months following that report. It obliges you to maintain registration for 3 years.

Basque Country: Lanbide published the APES (€3,500 for establishment, with a minimum investment of €5,000) and the APEC (€2,500 for expenses in the 10 months following the application, including RETA fees and tax, labour and accounting advice) on 30 September 2026. Both increase by 15% if you are under 30 and another 15% if you are a woman, are compatible with each other and are resolved on a first-come, first-served basis until €1M and €1.9M are exhausted.

Aragon: from €4,200 to €7,000, with a minimum investment of €4,500 (less in small towns), for registrations up to 30 September 2026 and one month from registration. Navarre: from €2,000 to €5,000, one month from registration, for registrations up to 15 November 2026; the Government of Navarre has already warned that the funds may fall short. La Rioja (ADER, PPA): 35% of the investment, more in small municipalities.

This is the service page for the grant for becoming an autónomo: we check if you meet your community's requirements, calculate your amount and personal deadline, put together the statement of costs with your invoices and submit it; in the Basque Country, the APES, the APEC or both, which are compatible. We do not process the Cantabria one yet. If your community has closed it, we tell you before charging; you can see the updated amount on the service page.

Registering too early. Almost all start-up grants are for unemployed people registered as job seekers BEFORE registration: in Madrid, at least one day within the 15 days prior to the start; in Lanbide, the day before registration in the IAE; in Aragon, the previous 2 months; in Murcia, the day before registration; in Cantabria, 30 consecutive days until the application. If you register first and sign up as a job seeker later, you lose it, and there is no possible correction.

The second mistake is letting your personal window expire. The call may still be open and you may be out of time: one month from registration in Aragon and Navarre, two months in Murcia, three months in Madrid. In Aragon, for example, as of 5 October 2026, only registrations from 3 to 30 September 2026 are within the deadline.

The third is paying in cash or outside the valid dates. Madrid, Lanbide and Aragon require invoices paid by bank or card within a specific period. An invoice dated before the valid period or paid in cash does not count.

And the fourth affects those receiving unemployment benefits: capitalisation must be requested before registration, because the SEPE denies it if you are already registered as an autónomo; and the compatibility of unemployment benefits with registration is requested in the 15 days following the start of the activity. That is why the order of the steps is decided by whoever processes your registration, and it is the first thing we check.

Yes, and they are the largest amounts. Andalusia (Emplea-T, Line 1) pays €18,000 for the first full-time permanent contract by an autónomo (€9,000 part-time of at least 50%), plus €2,000 if you hire a woman (€1,000 part-time). It is open until 31 October 2026, for an autónomo with no one hired in the previous 12 months and unemployed people under 30, over 45 or long-term unemployed. The contract must be maintained for 24 months.

Open with a deadline: Canary Islands (+UNO 52, for hiring a person aged 52 or over) and Comunitat Valenciana (LABORA, from €10,000 to €25,000) until 15 October 2026; Aragon (from €5,500 to €7,200, contracts up to 30 September) until 30 October; Navarre (from €5,000 to €8,500, contracts up to 31 October) until 30 November; and Illes Balears (SOIB, from €25,000 to €35,000 for hiring a qualified person, if you have 2 years of activity; it is incompatible with Seguridad Social fee rebates) until 30 September 2027.

Permanently open: Cantabria (from €7,000 to €9,000 for an initial permanent contract of certain groups, with supplements up to €15,000) and the Community of Madrid, which pays €5,500 for hiring a young person under 30 registered in Youth Guarantee and adds €2,000 if it is the first hiring by an autónomo. In Aragon, Navarre, Cantabria and Madrid, the application is submitted in the month following registration or the start of the contract; in the Balearic Islands (SOIB), however, it is requested before hiring. Catalonia (TU+1) closed on 29 July 2026 and Galicia (TR349F) on 30 September 2026.

Furthermore, the State subsidises the contribution of certain contracts without a separate application: for example, €110 a month for 3 years for a long-term unemployed person (€128 if a woman or aged 45 or over), with the obligation to maintain them for 3 years. And if you have children under 12 or a dependent family member and have not had employees in the previous 12 months, hiring someone gives you the right to a 100% rebate on your own fee for common contingencies (excluding the temporary incapacity part) for up to 12 months, or 50% if the contract is part-time. This one does have to be proven before the Seguridad Social. The €275 Youth Guarantee rebate no longer applies to new contracts.

Our hiring grant service checks before charging you that the hired person and the contract fit into your community's grant and that you are still within the deadline, and submits the application. The contract and the worker's registration must already be done, except in the Balearic Islands, where the grant is requested before hiring; you can see the updated amount on the service page.

Programa Auto+, Line 2: open from 1 October 2026 at 10:00 to 31 December 2026 at 14:00, with €8M reserved for autónomos. It pays up to €6,000 for an electric car and up to €7,500 for a van, for new vehicles registered for the first time from 1 January 2026, on a first-come, first-served basis; if the funds run out, the application goes on a waiting list without the right to the grant. It allows a representative with a responsible declaration, so we submit it for you: Auto+ service page for autónomos and companies.

Business takeover: Castile and Leon (RELEVACyL) pays from €10,000 to €20,000 to whoever takes over the business of an autónomo who retires, ceases due to permanent incapacity or dies, for transfers already formalised between 15 November 2025 and 30 September 2026; it is requested until 15 October 2026. Aragon has a takeover line of up to €5,400 (€6,000 if a woman and €7,000 with a disability or if a victim of gender violence). The amounts of €5,400 and €6,000 increase by up to 10% for being under 30, long-term unemployed or having the premises in a town of fewer than 5,000 inhabitants, and the grant never exceeds the transfer value. The call remains open until 30 October 2026, but only for registrations up to 30 September 2026, with one month from registration.

Consolidation: Extremadura (Line I, 3+1) pays €2,500 (€3,000 in towns of fewer than 300 inhabitants) to whoever completes 3 years of registration and was a beneficiary of its Programme I, until 20 January 2027. Its new €47.5M call is only announced: the Governing Council authorised it on 22 September 2026, but it is not published in the DOE.

What CANNOT be requested today: the Kit Digital and the Kit Consulting are closed to new applications (the Kit Digital closed for the last time on 31 October 2025 and the Kit Consulting on 31 March 2025), and the Bono de inteligencia artificial (AI voucher) of the Plan IA360 is only announced, without rules or a call.

Yes, in most cases. We do it from start to finish and without ever asking for your digital certificate. Where the electronic office allows a representative, we submit it with your authorisation: registration and flat rate, Madrid's Tarifa Cero, Aragon, the hiring grant for Cantabria, La Rioja, Andalusia, Castile and Leon, Balearic Islands, hiring young people in Madrid and Auto+.

Some electronic offices ask for a specific form of representation. For the Madrid start-up grant, the office only mentions a notarised power of attorney; without it, you sign with your digital certificate or another electronic signature system accepted by the Community, and we leave everything ready for you and guide you. Lanbide asks that the representation be registered in its electronic register of powers of attorney; Canary Islands, apud acta or the Apodera register; and LABORA, that you first register the representation in the ACCV's Registro de Representantes (register of representatives). In Murcia and Navarre, the offices do not say if they accept a representative: if they do not, you sign and we prepare the application, invoices and annexes.