In short: the grants for autónomos in Madrid you can check at any time, without waiting for a call, are of three kinds: State ones (flat rate, lump-sum payment of unemployment benefit and microloan), those of the Community of Madrid (Tarifa Cero, start-up aid for unemployed people, contribution refund after the lump sum, and the Avalmadrid guarantee) and public advice (PAE and the City Council incubators). The Tarifa Cero and the start-up aid are granted while there is budget and are requested online on the Community's portal. Exact amounts, deadlines and requirements change every year: always check the official page of each one.
State aid (valid in Madrid too)
- Flat rate: €80 a month plus the MEI (0.9%), €88.64 in total, for 12 months, according to the Social Security Import@ss guide. It is requested in the registration itself.
- Lump-sum payment of unemployment benefit: collecting in one go the unemployment benefit you have left, to invest in your activity. It is requested before registering. In Madrid, as an individual autónomo, you request it from SEPE, online on its e-portal or at the office by appointment; if you set up a commercial company, a cooperative or a labour company, on the Community of Madrid portal.
- MicroBank microloan: it is a loan you repay, not a grant. The Community of Madrid lists it among the financing routes for entrepreneurs.
Community of Madrid
The Community's aids are requested online on its portal, with an electronic signature. The first two are granted while there is budget credit, and the yearly amount depends on the budget.
- Tarifa Cero (the Madrid «cuota cero», the name many people search for). The Community subsidises the reduced or bonus contributions and the MEI you pay to Social Security under the incentives of the Self-Employed Workers Statute Law, such as the flat rate. According to its press release, it covers 100% of the contributions of the first year of activity, extendable to a second. A second line is for people over 52 who stopped receiving the subsidy for over-52s when they registered: it is calculated from the monthly amount they stopped receiving, up to a maximum of 12 months.
- Tarifa Cero, requirements and deadlines: carrying out the activity in the Community of Madrid, being covered by a reduced or bonus contribution, and being up to date with the tax agencies (State and Community) and Social Security. It is not requested on the day of registration but after paying the contributions: generally within 3 months after each 12-month period. The decision can take up to 6 months and silence means refusal. It is not compatible with the contribution refund after the lump sum. It is not the «cuota cero» announced by the Generalitat Valenciana: that one is in the card on the flat rate.
- Start-up aid for unemployed people (unemployed people who set up on their own). It pays 80% of the justified start-up costs (notary, advisers, licences, insurance, software, advertising and similar): at most €5,600 in general and €6,200 for groups such as people under 30, unemployed women, people over 45, long-term unemployed, victims of gender violence or terrorism, or people with a disability of at least 33%. The minimum justified spend is €1,000 (minimum aid €800).
- Start-up aid, requirements and deadlines: being registered as a job seeker in the Community of Madrid for at least one day in the 15 days before the activity starts, not having carried out the same activity in the previous 6 months, carrying it out in the Community and being up to date with the tax agencies and Social Security. You request it after starting and after paying the costs, within 3 months of the start; late applications are rejected. You must keep your registration for at least 2 years.
- Contribution refund after the lump sum: for people who took their unemployment benefit as a lump sum. As an autónomo, at most 50% of the minimum contribution. It is requested within 6 months of registering. It is not compatible with the Tarifa Cero, so you have to choose.
Financing
- Avalmadrid: a mutual guarantee company that helps SMEs, autónomos and entrepreneurs in the Community of Madrid get financing with its guarantee. It has a line for new autónomos who invest in premises and equipment or in digitalising the business. The Community of Madrid includes it in its financing support. Conditions and amounts are on its website and with its account manager.
City Council, Chamber of Commerce and PAE
- Madrid City Council: 10 spaces for new companies: business incubators in Carabanchel, Moratalaz, Puente de Vallecas, San Blas, Vicálvaro and Villaverde, three industrial factories and the Madrid Food Innovation Hub. Requirements and places are in the page of each centre.
- Chamber of Commerce: chambers advise people who want to create a company, according to the Spanish Chamber of Commerce. Madrid programmes are on the Madrid Chamber of Commerce website.
- Advice and registration: the Entrepreneur Support Points (PAE) of the Community of Madrid are public: they give information on aid and Social Security, explain the company forms (autónomo, SRL) and start the incorporation through the DUE electronic system. An appointment is required. The entrepreneur advisory service gives you a personal adviser for the idea, the business plan and financing; to book you must first register on the Entrepreneurs Portal with a digital certificate, electronic DNI or Cl@ve.
If you are a foreigner
- Before any aid, your permit must allow you to work for yourself. Organic Law 4/2000 (art. 36.1) requires a residence and work authorisation for people over 16 for any paid activity, including self-employment. Art. 37 asks you to meet what is required of nationals to open the activity, sufficient investment and the ability to create jobs; the initial authorisation is limited to one autonomous community at most and one sector.
- Royal Decree 1155/2024 develops that authorisation in arts. 82 to 87: the initial one lasts 1 year, limited to one autonomous community and one sector (art. 83); after renewal, 4 years and without those limits (art. 87). If your authorisation is for employment, art. 73.5 also allows self-employment as long as employment remains the main activity. Temporary residence for exceptional circumstances, such as arraigo, carries work as an employee or self-employed with no territorial or sector limit (art. 131); the exception is the arraigo socioformativo, which only allows work as an employee, up to 30 hours a week.
- With temporary protection, the Ucrania Urgente website of the Ministry of Inclusion lists working as self-employed or as an employee among the rights. If you are not from the EU, the Social Security guide asks for a NIE, a Social Security number and a work and residence permit to register.
- In the aids: the Tarifa Cero asks for activity in the Community of Madrid and being covered by a reduced contribution. The start-up aid asks for a valid work and residence permit if you are a non-EU foreigner. For Avalmadrid, the microloan, the incubators and the rest, confirm the nationality and permit requirements with the body that manages them.
- The steps and order of registration are in the card on becoming an autónomo as a foreigner; the self-employment authorisation for people living outside Spain, in residence and work as self-employed; taxes, in taxes for a foreign autónomo.
And this week's calls?
The table below shows the calls open now in the National Grants Database, from the State, the Community of Madrid and town halls, and it is updated every day. Madrid publishes few there, and the aids above are handled on the Community's portal, so they do not always appear in the table. The conditions and the exact deadline of each call are only in its official text: open it before preparing anything.
Informational only; check the official source and a professional for your specific case.