Do you have a business idea, feel ready to get started or want to strengthen your existing business, and wonder whether there’s any support available for you? The answer may be yes, but finding it among all the forms and deadlines can feel like an obstacle course.
This guide will help you understand what you can apply for, where to apply and how to get started without ending up with twenty browser tabs open.
1. Capitalising your unemployment benefit
This allows you to use your remaining contribution-based unemployment benefit to start a self-employed business. It’s not just a lump-sum payment: you can receive it in one payment (up to 100%) to finance your investment, use it month by month to cover your self-employed social security contributions, or combine both options. You must have at least three monthly payments remaining, must not have capitalised your benefit in the previous four years, and must apply to SEPE before registering as self-employed, submitting a business plan.
2. Combining unemployment benefit with self-employment
This allows you to continue receiving 100% of your contribution-based unemployment benefit while getting your business off the ground, for up to 270 days (or your remaining entitlement, if shorter). You must apply to SEPE within 15 days of starting your activity. Capitalising your benefit and combining it with self-employment are alternative options: it’s worth making this decision with your financial plan in hand.
3. Reduced social security contributions for the self-employed
A reduced contribution of €80 per month applies for the first 12 months (the amount in force in 2026), extendable for a further 12 months if your net earnings are below the statutory minimum wage. You must not have been registered as self-employed in the previous two years (three if you have previously benefited from this reduction), and you must request it when registering. Extended periods are available for people with a recognised disability of 33% or more and victims of gender-based violence or terrorism.
4. Youth self-employment grant (Government of Catalonia)
For people aged 18 to 29 who are registered with the Youth Guarantee programme on the day before starting their activity. The 2026 call offered up to €17,094 (depending on the length of time registered as self-employed, with a minimum of 12 months) and required applicants to maintain their activity for 18 months and complete 6 hours of business management training. Applications closed on September 22, 2026: if you meet this profile, register with the Youth Guarantee programme before registering as self-employed so you can apply for the next round. Follow our updates so you don’t miss any opportunities!
5. Main grant programmes
Applications open annually, and applicants must contribute their own funding. The next application periods will be in 2027.
- CCAM (Consortium for Commerce, Crafts and Fashion of Catalonia): covers 50% of the investment, up to €5,000 for opening or renovating shops and for digitalisation, and up to €2,500 for craft businesses in Catalonia.
- Barcelona Activa – “Impulsem el que fas”: funds up to 80% of project costs for self-employed people and small businesses in Barcelona. It includes Amunt Persianes, which supports opening businesses in vacant premises or market stalls. Grants are awarded through a draw.
Other municipalities also offer support: check with your local economic development service.
6. An example of hiring support: the TU+1 programme
A Government of Catalonia grant for self-employed people who have no employees and have been registered for at least one year, and who hire an unemployed person registered with SOC, Catalonia’s public employment service. The 2026 call offered €22,320 per full-time permanent contract (proportionally adjusted for part-time contracts), with a maximum of two contracts, which must be maintained for 18 months. At Autoocupació, we keep you up to date with these funding opportunities!
7. Where to start and how to simplify the paperwork
Define what your project needs and check the eligibility requirements before registering as self-employed (some grants require you to complete steps beforehand). Prepare your documents, note the deadlines and plan your cash flow without relying on grants. You can ask us for advice by emailing info@autoocupacio.org or calling 934 908 860.
Recommended funding search tools
- ACCIÓ grants and services search – Government of Catalonia support for businesses.
- Gencat procedures search – official information on all Government of Catalonia grants.
- National Subsidies Publicity System (BDNS) – all public funding calls, including those from local councils.
- Plataforma PYME’s dynamic funding guides – a nationwide search tool by topic, sector and autonomous community.
- Barcelona Activa grants and funding – municipal grants for self-employed people and businesses in Barcelona.
You don’t need a master’s degree in bureaucracy to start a business: begin with the support that suits you, ask for advice and put the deadlines in your calendar. And remember: a grant can give you a boost, but your business needs to stand on its own two feet. Because every step you take with your project strengthens one conviction: I am who I want to be!
