Image NEW CALLS FOR GRANTS TO TRADE AND HOTEL INDUSTRY 2025: DYNAMIZATION, TRAINING AND DIGITALIZATION

NEW CALLS FOR GRANTS TO TRADE AND HOTEL INDUSTRY 2025: DYNAMIZATION, TRAINING AND DIGITALIZATION
2024/12/21

IN 2025, THE CITY COUNCIL WILL ALLOCATE 2.7 MILLION EUROS, INCREASABLE BY UP TO 1 MORE MILLION EUROS, TO FINANCE BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONS IN THE COMMERCIAL, HOTEL AND HOTEL SECTOR TO CARRY OUT PROJECTS FOR THE REVIVAL, TRAINING AND DIGITALISATION OF THE CITY'S COMMERCE AND HOTEL INDUSTRY.

  • The beneficiaries are non-profit associations formed by businesspeople in the sector with activity preferably limited to the municipality of Madrid and the concession holders of municipal markets.
  • Applications for DYNAMIZATION grants may be made at the municipal electronic headquarters within 20 calendar days from the day following the publication of the call in the Official Gazette of the Community of Madrid, scheduled for January 2025.
  • These grants are in addition to those from the already published call for digitalisation, which has a further 1.5 million euros, and whose application period runs from 13 to 27 January.

The Madrid City Council has today approved the launch of a call for subsidies for 2025 worth 1.2 million euros to facilitate projects that promote commercial, hospitality and hotel work in Madrid, its promotional dissemination and the improvement of the skills of its professionals, as detailed this morning by the deputy mayor and municipal spokesperson, Inma Sanz. The credit allocated to these grants exceeds by 20% that of the previous call and may be increased by up to 500,000 euros more if the amount of the applications submitted exceeds the initial allocation.

Applications for grants may be made at the municipal electronic office within 20 calendar days from the day following the publication of the call for applications in the Official Gazette of the Community of Madrid, scheduled for next January.

The approval of this grant is in response to the municipal commitment to local commerce, the consolidation of the capital as a shopping destination, the improvement of training in the commercial and hospitality sectors and the promotion of associations.

Of the total initial amount of the line of aid, 1,190,000 euros are charged to the municipal budget application 'Other transfers to non-profit institutions' and 10,000 euros are charged to 'other subsidies to private companies'.

More than 40 projects subsidized in 2024

This line of aid, integrated into the Comprehensive Strategy to strengthen commercial and hospitality activity in the city of Madrid 2024-2027, has a consolidated track record, maintaining very high execution figures year after year, around 90%, and a stable number of annually subsidized projects that exceeds 40.

In this line, in the 2024 financial year, subsidies have been provided for, among other actions, fairs and events such as the Recoletos Craft Fairs, Salesas The Festival, Cultuletras, the Mercado de las Ranas, Madrid Hotel Week or Veranos en Vivo and various promotion, advertising and loyalty campaigns. Thus, 42 entities have benefited, including concessionaires of 11 municipal markets and 31 entities representing different sectors of activity (fashion, food, crafts, street vendors, food retailers, bookstores, hospitality, nightlife, hotels) and commercial areas in different districts.

Beneficiaries, deadlines and eligible expenses

These grants are aimed at non-profit associations made up mainly of entrepreneurs from the commercial, hotel and catering sector, formally established and registered and with activity preferably limited to the municipality of Madrid. Likewise, the concession holders of the municipal markets of Madrid can benefit from this call for applications.

This is an advance grant that allows the financing of projects executed between July 1, 2024 and August 31, 2025 and that considers as eligible expenses those derived from the preparation of studies and strategic plans aimed at improving the shopping experience and boosting local commerce in specific areas or sectors.

Expenses arising from the implementation of communication and advertising actions for the promotion of a sector or commercial area are also subsidised, including the development of fairs and animation activities to promote a commercial area, the encouragement of consumption in a specific area or sector or to disseminate the image of Madrid as a shopping destination.

Promotional campaigns to promote direct sales, build loyalty and attract consumers; the design and publication of samples, promotional material and presentations; the provision of services to prepare reports and studies or the analysis of results obtained are also considered eligible expenses, along with online training actions that allow the development of digital training and other training expenses. The minimum eligible investment required will be 1,500 euros and the maximum up to 85% of the eligible expenses.

Sustained and reinforced municipal support

These grants, a constant within municipal policies, have been increasing their amounts over the years. Between 2019 and 2023, an initial credit in aid for this purpose of 4,403,000 euros was granted, with 4,139,354 euros of subsidy granted and 3,761,491 euros of justified subsidy for a total of 190 projects. In 2024, more than 1 million euros have been granted to 42 beneficiary entities.

With the reinforced budgetary effort for next year, the commitment to promote the development of economic activities that are vital for the functioning of the city due to their volume of employment and business, their social and urban relevance, their role in attracting tourism to Madrid and in building its identity and sustainability is redoubled.

Aid for digitalisation

Furthermore, these grants for the revitalization of commerce and hospitality are added to those that the City Council has been granting since 2020 to promote the digitalization of the commercial, hotel and hospitality sectors, to which in the year 2025 it will allocate an initial credit of 1.5 million euros, expandable by up to 500,000 euros more through the call already published in the BOAM of January 11, 2023 and online, whose application period will be open for the 2025 year, from January 13 to 27, both inclusive.

These grants, as well as the revitalization grants, are aimed at concession holders of municipal markets managed under an administrative concession regime and at non-profit associations made up mainly of entrepreneurs from the commercial, hospitality and hotel sectors that develop the project for which a grant is requested within the territorial scope of the municipality of Madrid. The amount of the grants awarded through this call for applications in the years 2023 and 2024 exceeded 3.9 million euros, awarded to 139 projects .

The purpose of these grants, which are prepayable and amount to 85% of the eligible expenditure made by the beneficiaries, is to promote local commerce, facilitate the positioning of small businesses in the digital world and improve the provision of public services in markets.

The eligible projects, which must be carried out between January 1 and December 31, 2025, include: action plans for the creation of digital corporate identity and culture; development of e-commerce platforms and membership fees for e-commerce support websites; execution of promotional actions through social networks and multimedia channels; hiring of managers of promotional actions on social networks and multimedia channels, as well as staff for logistics applied to the online store: preparation of purchases, dispatch and control of orders, after-sales services; payment for the use of software tools for the commercial management of customers and their loyalty (CRM, sales APPs); solutions to manage and automate processes, and contracting of services for the use of electronic signage systems.