In short: the Castellón Emprende awards 2026 of the Castelló de la Plana city council give 40 prizes, almost all of €10,000, to autónomos, companies, shops and organisations with a tax address, registered office or workplace in the city. They reward what you have already done, not a future project. Applications are online only until 30 October 2026, inclusive.
In person or by representative? Online only: you apply at the electronic office of the Castelló de la Plana city council, under «Catálogo de trámites», subject «Subvenciones», procedure «Premios Castellón Emprende», with a digital certificate or Cl@ve. For a company or organisation, its legal representative applies. For legal entities, the rules list certificates from the Agencia de Tecnología y Certificación Electrónica (ACCV) and electronic seals from the Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre (FNMT). Test your access to the electronic office before the last day. The rules do not accept email and do not say whether an individual can apply through another person.
What it is. These are prizes in the form of a competitive subsidy, governed by the regulatory rules and call of the Premios Castellón Emprende 2026, approved by the local government board on 6 August 2026. The summary was published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Castellón (Boletín Oficial de la Provincia de Castellón, BOP) no. 95 of 8 August 2026. The call is listed in the National Grants Database (Base de Datos Nacional de Subvenciones, BDNS) under number 923875. In total, €398,750 is available, and this is the first edition.
Categories and prizes
- Young entrepreneur: 2 prizes of €10,000. Aged 18 to 35 on the deadline and a business at least 1 year and at most 5 years old when the window closes. Individual: legal residence and a work permit in Spain. Company: representative up to 35 and at least 51% of the capital held by young people.
- Woman entrepreneur of the year: 2 prizes of €10,000. Business at least 1 year old on the deadline. Individual: legal residence and a work permit in Spain. Company: a woman as representative and at least 51% of the capital held by women.
- Local shop: 10 prizes of €10,000. Autónomos, micro and small businesses with retail or services in premises open to the public within the municipality, with an average staff of up to 5 people in the 12 months before the call.
- Generational handover: 10 prizes of €10,000. Businesses whose ownership, management or control changed in the 5 years before the rules, or where that change has formally started.
- Social innovation or employment projects: 8 prizes, 7 of €10,000 and 1 of €9,375. For private organisations, companies, associations and their groupings.
- Social economy organisations: 8 prizes, 7 of €10,000 and 1 of €9,375. For cooperatives, worker-owned companies, integration companies and the other organisations of Law 5/2011 on the Social Economy.
You can apply to several categories, with one application in each, but you can win in only one.
Requirements for all categories: a tax address, registered office or operating workplace in Castelló de la Plana. You must also be up to date with the tax agency (Agencia Tributaria), Social Security and the city council, and not be under any prohibition of the General Subsidies Law.
What if you are a foreigner or have temporary protection? The rules set no nationality requirement. In the young entrepreneur and woman entrepreneur categories they ask an individual for legal residence and a work permit in Spain. The temporary protection resolution includes the residence and work authorisation (Order PCM/169/2022, art. 5.1), but the rules do not mention this status. If you have doubts about your case, ask the council's Agencia de Desarrollo Local first.
Before you apply
- It is not money to get started. The rules reward track records and results already achieved and proven. If you have not started your activity yet, this prize does not fit.
- It is a competition, not a guarantee. Each application is scored out of 100 and needs at least 60 points; a category can be left without a winner. Only what you prove with documents counts: accounts, tax returns, contracts, certificates.
- The money comes at the end. It is paid in a single payment after the decision; the maximum time to decide is 2 months after the window closes. Before paying, the council checks that you have no debts with the tax agency, Social Security or the council itself.
- Afterwards you do not have to justify the spending or keep the activity for a minimum time: the rules do not require it. You do have to attend the award ceremony; missing it without a justified reason can count as giving up the prize.
- One incompatibility: you cannot keep both this prize and the Universitat Jaume I student entrepreneurial talent awards (Premios al Talento Emprendedor del Estudiantado).
Documents
- The application form generated by the electronic office itself, signed (without it, the application is not admitted), with the responsible declarations.
- An up-to-date census status certificate (certificado de situación censal) from the tax agency, showing the activity, the start date, the tax address and the premises. Forms 036 or 037 are not accepted.
- Authorisation for the council to check your tax, Social Security and municipal tax certificates; if you object, you must provide them yourself.
- For an organisation: deed of incorporation or statutes and a certificate of who represents it (Annex I), the representative's DNI and the tax identification card. The rules say DNI: if the representative is a foreigner, confirm at the electronic office whether the NIE or TIE is accepted.
- A video of up to 3 minutes about the application.
- A signed report following the Annex II model, up to 10 pages, with the evidence for each merit.
The annexes are in the same procedure at the electronic office. If something is missing, you are notified electronically and have 10 working days, with no extension, to fix it. If you do not open the notification within 10 calendar days, it counts as received.
If you are late or do not fit. This is the first edition and a second one has not been announced. If you are starting out, see how taxes work for a foreign autónomo and, if you do not yet have a permit to work for yourself, the card on residence and work as self-employed.
Steps
- Check that your tax address, registered office or workplace is in Castelló de la Plana and that you meet the requirements of your category.
- Request the census status certificate from the tax agency.
- Prepare the Annex II report with the evidence and record a video of up to 3 minutes.
- Log in to the council's electronic office with a digital certificate or Cl@ve and open the «Premios Castellón Emprende» procedure.
- Submit the application before the end of 30 October 2026 and check your electronic notifications.
Informational only; check the official source and a professional for your specific case.