Member States manage ESF+ financial support under shared management, where the Commission plays a supervisory role and Member States implement national programs.

Shared management requires responsibilities to be assumed at the appropriate levels: The Fund’s resources form part of the Community Budget and are implemented by the Member States. The commitment undertaken by each country involves strict compliance with the guidelines of the European Social Fund, for which an administrative organization capable of managing these resources in accordance with its own regulations is established. The European Social Fund’s investment in each country is specified in National or Regional Programs. These define the areas of action, goals, and results to be achieved with the European Social Fund Plus.

Regional Programs: regional or autonomous community-based programs dedicated to the objectives set by the autonomous communities and co-financed from their budgets or other sources of public or private funding. Nineteen regional programs have been approved for the 2021-2027 period. These programs account for 48% of the total ESF+ allocation for Spain, which amounts to a total of 16.3 billion euros.

National Programs: these are state-wide, horizontal, and thematic programs with investment in all the Autonomous Communities and Autonomous Cities. They are co-financed by the Spanish government and other public or private funding sources. Four national programs have been approved for the 2021-2027 period. The National Programs have been allocated 52% of the total ESF+ aid for Spain.

In particular, the Social Inclusion, Child Guarantee and Fight against Poverty Program has been allocated a total of 2.06 billion euros.

Intermediate bodies are public or private bodies, at the national or regional level, to which the Managing Authority delegates some of its management, monitoring, and control functions. The Managing Authority is the national unit responsible for managing the funds under the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy.

The terms and conditions of the call will be available in the ESF+ section of the Foundation’s website or by clicking on the MAPRE link https://fseplus.fundacionmapfre.org.

On the Fundación MAPFRE website, in the ESF+ section, there is a form available to applying entities for questions on the following topics: administrative requirements, indicators, budgets, clarification session for questions on the 2nd Call for +Rural Grants.

To submit a funding application, organisations must use the app designed for electronic processing, which will be available in the ESF+ section of the Fundación MAPRE website https://fseplus.fundacionmapfre.org.

Once logged into the app and prior to registering the application electronically, the legal representative and contact persons must be identified. A “User Manual/Applicant’s Guide” will be made available to users to assist entities with registration, process traceability, and the storage of documentation provided during the process.

Applications are registered by completing the standard electronic forms found in the app, which must include information on the project, its budget, and the expected objectives, among other requirements found in the terms and conditions of the call.

Yes, a virtual session will be held on May 12 to answer questions. Prior to this, and until May 8, questions can be sent via the inquiry mailbox, selecting the following reason for inquiry: Inquiries for the Session on the 2025 Call for +Rural Grants.

The selection process ends when Fundación MAPFRE and the beneficiary organisations sign the document establishing the conditions of the grant (Documento que Establece las Condiciones de la Ayuda; DECA). This will take place around the end of 2025.

The general requirements for projects to be eligible for grants are set out in Article 8 of the terms and conditions of the +Rural call.

In principle, no; the implementation period is determined in Article 8(1) of the call.

An employment-generating sector within the framework of the European Social Fund (ESF+) refers to economic sectors or activities with a high potential for job creation. These employment-generating sectors are areas identified as strategic at the European level for promoting employment and improving job opportunities in the Eurozone, especially in contexts of economic and social transformation. Some examples of employment-generating sectors include the green economy, information and communication technology (ICT), care services for the elderly and dependent persons, and the social economy.

Measure 2.H.03 of the ESF+ Inclusion Program mentions employment-generating sectors, but does not specifically identify them. For the purposes of this call for proposals, consideration will be given to the project’s diagnostic analysis, its alignment with both the proposal’s objectives and those of the call itself, as well as any innovations included in the proposal, in order to determine whether it contributes in any way to job creation in employment-generating sectors for rural areas. In relation to the above, this characteristic will be taken into account in the selection criteria.

The same project cannot be submitted for the two measures and lines of objective K.

If the project includes actions that could correspond to both measures, it may be submitted under either of the two available measures. For the purposes of monitoring indicators, only those corresponding to the selected measure should be reported.

The variety of groups covered by the call for applications may participate in both Specific Objectives, provided that they meet the vulnerability conditions. There is nothing to prevent young people over the age of 16 who are of working age and looking for work from participating.

However, criterion 4 of the Mandatory Selection Criteria establishes that “there must be correspondence between the participants and the main target groups for each priority and Specific Objective.”

It is also important to note that the beneficiary entity must keep all necessary documentation to verify that the people participating in the project belong to the groups indicated in the proposal, as well as that they live in areas classified as rural for the purposes of the call.

The general requirements for projects to be eligible for grants are set out in Article 6 of the terms and conditions of the +Rural call.

How much funding is available for an individual project?

Each project submitted may have a minimum total cost of €350,000 and a maximum total cost of €1,500,000, in accordance with Article 6 of the terms and conditions of the +Rural call.

Public entities are excluded from the +Rural call.

In accordance with Article 11.3 of the General Subsidies Law 38/2003 of November 17, and in general, groups of third sector entities and/or social economy companies that, even if they do not have their own legal personality (as a group), are responsible for initiating or initiating and executing projects that are eligible under this call, may apply for the +Rural call, provided that the requirements of Article 9.1(d) of the terms and conditions are met. Among the most important requirements are the following:

• All entities forming part of the group must have their own legal personality and be affiliated to the same federation or confederation, association or union of entities.
• The group must be made up of no more than four entities, and each member must undertake to execute a minimum amount equivalent to €350,000.
• All entities in the group must appoint a single representative and spokesperson with sufficient powers on behalf of each and every one of them to fulfill the obligations that correspond to the group as a whole as the beneficiary. The entity whose details appear on the application form will in all cases be ultimately responsible for carrying out the project and will assume the status of beneficiary, as well as acting as the point of contact with Fundación MAPFRE.
• In all cases, applying entities and therefore potential beneficiaries must operate at the national or regional level, depending on their legal status.

In accordance with Article 11.2 of the General Subsidies Law 38/2003 of November 17, entities that are part of Federations or Confederations may apply provided that they individually meet all the requirements set out in the rules regarding their legal status, their capacity to act in at least one regional category, and the other administrative and economic requirements set out in the terms and conditions of the call.

In this case, the Federation/Confederation would be the beneficiary entity and therefore responsible for implementing the project under the terms provided, and for all obligations arising from the awarding of the grant. It will also receive 100% of the grant payments.

If they do not meet the requirements individually, they may participate as implementing entities in a project submitted by the federations/confederations to which they belong (Article 9, point 1.d), provided that these meet the requirements of the terms and conditions.

NO. Actions carried out in projects selected under the Social Inclusion, Child Protection and Fight against Poverty Program will receive 60% funding and will be included in the Regions in Transition group.

The 85% rate will only apply to specific regional programs in the Canary Islands.

To identify rural populations that meet the conditions established by Law 45/2007 on sustainable rural development and to ensure that the data is as up to date as possible, the census data available from the INE (Spanish National Statistics Institute) as of December 31, 2022 is used as a reference, and the geographical area in m2 covered by the LAU – NUTS 2021 file (for Spain), available in the Eurostat database. By calculating the density (number of inhabitants/area in km2) and filtering by number of inhabitants, it is possible to identify the reference municipalities. Published in the “new information” section of the website: https://www.fundacionmapfre.org/en/european-social-funds-plus/latest-news-and-information/

The CANVAS model is a strategic tool that allows you to visualize and structure all the key components of a project in a clear and simple way. Its main usefulness lies in the fact that by grouping information in a visual and structured way, it facilitates an understanding of how these elements interact with each other and contribute to the success of the project.  Within the framework of this call, the CANVAS model will serve as a support for evaluating the project for which funding is requested. The following key elements must be taken into account:

• All fields requesting information must be completed and the Fundación MAPFRE template available on the Citizen Portal must be used.
• The information entered into CANVAS must match the information submitted in the application via the Citizen Portal.
• Do not exceed the space allocated for the fields (these can be expanded upon in the report), with a limit of one sheet per project.

In this case, the information provided in the form will PREVAIL. However, during the administrative verification process, the relevant corrections will be requested to resolve any discrepancies in content.

The electronic processing of grants is mandatory at all stages of the procedure and must be carried out using the app made available to applicants, in accordance with the instructions and templates provided for this purpose on the Fundación MAPFRE website.

If the application forms are not duly completed or accompanied by the necessary documentation, the entity will be required to correct the information or provide the mandatory documents within a period of 10 working days, in accordance with Article 15.4 of the terms and conditions of the call.

NO. The administrative and financial requirements will always be those corresponding to the applying entity, which is the beneficiary of the project, regardless of whether the implementation is carried out in part by entities affiliated to it.

Additionally, the applicant entity must include the following information both in the application system and through the required administrative documents for the project:

1. Percentage of expenditure and implementation to be undertaken by each of the entities, their identification, and their individual income.
2. An agreement must be signed between the beneficiary entity and the implementing member entities, setting out the terms of the collaboration, particularly with regard to the budget to be implemented, the results to be achieved, and the assumption of certain obligations such as separate accounting, document retention, or anything else that may be required to ensure the traceability of the implementation in audits.

The call establishes the requirement that the aggregate result (after taxes) for the year 2024 must be positive. This condition is necessary to be eligible for the project, so failure to meet this requirement will result in the application being rejected.

The supporting account implies that all expenses are correctly accrued and paid.

Compensation is an eligible expense, provided that the work performed is linked to the project co-financed by the ESF+ and the staff are assigned to the project on a full-time basis. If staff members are hired specifically to carry out the co-financed project during its implementation period, compensation would be an eligible expense.

If the staff have been employed by the entity for some time, the compensation would not be an eligible expense, or would only be eligible in proportion to the time they have been working on the project co-financed by the ESF+. If the staff are assigned less than 100% of their time, only the corresponding portion should be allocated.

The salary bands imposed in the sectoral agreements for each of the categories of personnel allocated to the project must be respected.

There is no obligation to hire new staff. Both in the case of new staff and existing staff who will be involved in the project, there must always be documentation justifying the time dedicated to the project.

Yes, outsourcers can be either self-employed workers/freelancers or companies, provided that the requirements established in the +Rural call on subcontracting are met.

For outsourced services, personnel costs may be considered direct personnel costs when the invoice issued by the service provider clearly separates the cost of the personnel providing the service.

Invoices must expressly indicate the service with the project being implemented.

The applicant entity may express its preference for one of the two Simplified Cost Options (fixed-rate financing of up to 40% of the remaining costs of the project/direct personnel costs or fixed-rate financing of up to 15% of indirect costs/direct personnel costs), provided that, in accordance with the cost structure presented through the application system and the Excel budget that must be attached to the funding application, it is feasible to choose one of the two options proposed. Ultimately, after analyzing the budget for the project and its corresponding cost structure, Fundación MAPFRE will make the final decision about the simplified cost options to be applied and the fixed rate to be used. This decision will be explicitly included in the final resolution and will appear in the DECA.

No, the expenses referred to in this point are expressly for minor home adaptations.

These expenses are eligible if they constitute repair or refurbishment costs to make homes more accessible and adapted to the dependent person’s situation (ramps and/or replacement of bathtubs with shower trays).

Above all, the adaptation must not increase the value of the property. These expressly stated expenses are usually small and we consider that they do not increase the value of the investment.

An initial advance payment of 30% of the grant awarded will be made by Fundación MAPFRE after the DECA has been formalized. The payment of this amount will be made within a maximum period of 10 business days from the date on which the DECA, duly signed by the beneficiary entity, is received, by bank transfer to the account indicated by the beneficiary.

Once the beneficiary has submitted the supporting documentation for the expenditure actually incurred and charged to the first advance payment, and Fundación MAPFRE has verified it, Fundación MAPFRE will make a second advance payment of the same percentage and under the same conditions regarding justification and verification of expenditure as the previous advance payment. Twelve months after the start of the project, the organizations must have submitted at least the justification for the first advance payment.

The final payment, corresponding to the remaining 40% of the total amount of the project, will be made once the completion of the project has been duly justified and, where applicable, the supporting documents for the outstanding expenditure have been submitted.

If the project is carried out over a period of 12 months, an initial advance payment of 50% will be made, with the remaining 50% being paid once Fundación MAPFRE has verified and approved the relevant documentation. A maximum period of six months from the start date is established for the financial justification of the first advance payment.

The payment of the amounts indicated in the previous points in this article will be made within a maximum period of 10 working days from the date on which the Foundation notifies the beneficiary entity of its validation of the justifying documentation. Subsequent payments will, in all cases, be subject to the beneficiary entity submitting certificates proving that it is up to date with its payments to the Spanish Social Security (TGSS) and the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT).

Not for the same project that is being financed under the Fundación MAPFRE +Rural grants. Projects financed with grants from the +Rural call for proposals must guarantee that there is no double financing of the expenditure with other Community or national schemes, or with other European Social Fund programming periods.

Applications will be assessed in line with the project validation and selection process described in the terms and conditions of the call, and in accordance with the mandatory selection and assessment criteria set out in Annex IV of the call.

The necessary operating systems are Microsoft Windows 7 or above and/or supported directly in 7, 8, 8.1, and 10.

The Internet browsers supported by the @firma platform of the Spanish General State Authorities are: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge. We recommend that you update them to the latest version.

Autofirma. You must have the latest version of the Autofirma electronic signature app installed and updated.

By accessing the app enabled for the electronic processing of funding applications, which will be available in the ESF+ section of the Fundación MAPRE website https://www.fundacionmapfre.org/en/european-social-funds-plus/call-for-rural-grants/.