The Government of Spain approves an investment of €2.54 billion in scholarships and raises the residence allowance to €2,700

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, and the Minister for Education, Vocational Training and Sports and Government Spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, explain the agreements adopted by the Council of Ministers (Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa)

The Council of Ministers has approved the royal decree regulating the call for grants for the 2025-2026 academic year, with a total investment of €2.54 billion, an allocation described as "historic" by the Minister for Education, Vocational Training and Sports and Government Spokesperson, Pilar Alegría.

According to the spokesperson, the increase of more than €1 billion since the 2017/2018 academic year reflects "the Government's clear, firm and convinced commitment to equal opportunities for our young people".

Alegría stressed that approximately one million students will be able to benefit from this call for applications, which will open in the coming weeks and can be accessed through the website of the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sport.

What's new in the scholarships for the 2025-2026 academic year?

As the most outstanding new feature of this year's call for applications for grants, the spokesperson highlighted the €200 increase in the residence grant for students who have to move from their usual place of residence to another city or autonomous community to study higher education.

The Minister for Education, Vocational Training and Sports and Government Spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, during her speech at the press conference after the Council of Ministers | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

With this increase, which will mainly benefit young people from rural areas, eligible students will receive €2,700 instead of €2,500.

Furthermore, in compliance with the provisions of the Law on Artistic Education, students of higher artistic education will be considered, to all intents and purposes, as university students and will therefore have the same access to grants. This equalisation will benefit some 7,000 young people.

International Women's Day Declaration

In the week of International Women's Day, the government spokesperson highlighted the latest female unemployment figure, which is at the lowest level reached in a month of February since 2008, before referring to the approval in the Council of Ministers of an institutional declaration on 8M. Pilar Alegría explained that this declaration "renews" the commitment of the Executive "to real and effective equality between men and women".

The text recalls that 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the basic roadmap for the advancement of women's rights. This anniversary comes "against a backdrop of growing insecurity, uncertainty, setbacks and accumulated crises, which increasingly generate distrust in democracy and reduce civic participation".

The Minister for Education, Vocational Training and Sports and Government Spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, at the press conference after the Council of Ministers | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

At this point, Alegría recalled the active work of feminist movements and women's associations to ensure that progress continues. "We are all aware of the important steps we have taken in our society to achieve effective and real equality between men and women, and for this reason we believe that this coming 8 March is an important date to continue remembering the steps we have been able to take", without forgetting, the minister continued, "that there is still a long way to go" to achieve this equality.

Plan to improve monitoring of earthquakes, eruptions and tsunamis

The Government Spokesperson also informed of the approval by the Council of Ministers of the National Plan for Seismic, Volcanological and other Geophysical Phenomena Monitoring, a strategy to improve monitoring, detection and response to earthquakes, eruptions and tsunamis.

Developed by the National Geographic Institute, this plan came into being following the eruption of the volcano on the island of La Palma in 2021, in which, as Alegría explained, "the good functioning of the monitoring and warning systems allowed an optimal management of the emergency that contributed to the absence of fatalities".

A total of 54 administrations and academic and scientific-technical entities have collaborated in the preparation of this document, which is valid for four years (2025-2028) and includes 58 measures to strengthen surveillance networks to advance knowledge and research that will enable better forecasts in the short, medium and long term. Within the framework of the plan, technological improvements and the densification of surveillance networks will be promoted. Efficiency in resource management and attention to emerging risks, as well as communication of warnings and progress in community resilience, will also be strengthened.

Credit Purchasers Bill

The Government has approved the referral to Parliament of the Bill on Credit Administrators and Credit Purchasers, transposing the European directive on this matter and amending several state laws.

The future law regulates the purchase and sale of doubtful loans granted by credit institutions and establishes common protection rules with the rest of the EU.

The regulation strengthens the protection of financial consumers, especially those who are financially vulnerable, ensures that their rights are respected and provides them with solutions to deal with their debts. It also promotes financial stability by making it easier for banks to sell their loan portfolios, enabling them to clean up their balance sheets and improve their solvency.

In this regard, Pilar Alegría stressed that the Government has worked "to guarantee information and common protection rules, especially with clients and consumers in mind".

Tabacalera Centre for Artistic Production and Residencies

The Executive has also approved the creation of the Tabacalera Centre for Artistic Production and Residencies. The spokesperson explained that it will be located "in the Lavapiés district of Madrid, and its aim is to continue to make progress in supporting the cultural sector through new aid for the visual arts and contemporary creation".

Labour market dynamism

The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, at the press conference after the Council of Ministers | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, following the Council of Ministers, assessed the national insurance contribution data released today. In seasonally adjusted terms, the Spanish economy exceeded 21.45 million contributors in February, which Saiz said shows "the enormous dynamism of the labour market in Spain". The minister added that these figures set a trend for the rest of the year and reflect the fact that in a complicated global context, "the recipe of Spanish policy, which combines economic growth and social protection, is the key to a success that is internationally recognised".

Since the entry into force of the 2021 labour reform the number of contributors to the Social Security system has increased by almost 1.65 million. Employment growth was 8.7% in this period, a much higher rate than in other major European economies, such as Germany, France, Italy and the UK. Elma Saiz stressed that this is also a higher quality employment: permanent contracts have grown by more than 3.7 million to 14.8 million. To this effect, for the first time, temporary workers account for less than 12%, whereas before the labour reform they accounted for more than 26%.

Improving women's employment

The head of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration stressed, along the same lines as the Government spokesperson, the advances in female employment and the progress towards a "more equitable" labour market. There are already more than 10 million female contributors in Spain, and the percentage of women in terms of the total of contributors has grown since the labour reform to 47.3%.

Moreover, almost 70% of the self-employment created since 2021 is among women, and in February the proportion of self-employed women reached an all-time high of 36.95%. By sector, women are gaining presence in traditionally male-dominated sectors, such as scientific-technical activities, where they now represent more than half of all contributors.

The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, appears at the press conference after the Council of Ministers | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

As Elma Saiz explained, the improvement in female employment is reflected in the contribution bases, which have risen by 21.2% since 2019, compared to the 18.1% increase in the contribution bases of men. "Better contribution bases mean better pensions for the future, something that would not be possible if the evolution of women's employment had not gone hand in hand with an improvement in the quality of their wages", she said.

The incorporation of women into employment is a nationwide phenomenon, and in 15 provinces women account for more than 48% of the total number of Social Security contributors.

"All in all, today we are once again celebrating the country's success. Together we will continue to move towards a stronger, fairer and more inclusive labour market", concluded the minister, who added that the Government is well aware "that we still have a lot of work to do".

Non official translation