AECID will provide a direct grant of 5.7 million euros to the Carolina Foundation

Eduardo González The Government has approved by Royal Decree the granting of direct subsidies from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) to 16 sustainable development cooperation projects, totaling almost 9.3 million euros. The entities benefiting from the subsidies under this Royal Decree, as published last Friday in the Official State Gazette (BOE), are “strategic partners of Spanish Cooperation, mostly public institutions or those in which they have a stake, representing the fields of municipal cooperation, university cooperation, cultural, scientific, and educational cooperation, as well as strategic research institutes and centers involved in the development of the actions included in the Spanish Cooperation Master Plan 2024-2027 in such central areas as Global Health, Humanitarian Action, regional cooperation in the Mediterranean, and the strengthening of organized civil society in the field of Development.” These subsidies are part of the 2024-2026 Strategic Subsidy Plan of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation. Given that there is still no General State Budget (PGE) for the 2026 fiscal year, but rather an extension of the 2023 PGE to 2026, it has been decided to process these grants as direct awards, instead of through competitive bidding processes, due to “the need to maintain AECID funding for the activities of the beneficiary entities.” According to current legislation, direct and exceptional grants “where reasons of public, social, economic, or humanitarian interest are demonstrated” must be approved by Royal Decree upon the proposal of the head of the relevant Ministry (in this case, José Manuel Albares, Minister of Foreign Affairs) and after a report from the Ministry of Finance. In this case, considering “the crucial importance of the measures to be developed through the subsidies included in this Royal Decree, which cover the priorities of the Master Plan, which in turn guides the actions to be implemented in this public policy, it is considered that exceptional circumstances exist that justify reasons of public, social, and humanitarian interest for their approval as direct grants.” Beneficiary entities The largest beneficiary is the Carolina Foundation, which will receive a grant of €5,700,000 to promote cultural relations and cooperation in education and science between Spain and the countries of the Ibero-American Community of Nations and other countries with special historical, cultural, and geographical ties to Spain through the more than 500 scholarships awarded annually. The Support Program for Human Rights Defenders in Latin America and the Caribbean is also included. The Carolina Foundation, linked to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is a public-private institution for the promotion of cultural relations and cooperation between Spain and the countries of the Ibero-American community of nations, particularly in the scientific, cultural, and higher education fields, through its relationships with foreign ministries and Ibero-American academic institutions. Second in terms of amount, the Confederation of Cooperation and Solidarity Funds (CONFOCOS) will receive two million euros to finance municipal technical cooperation programs in partner countries of Spanish Cooperation, aiming to strengthen local public services and the institutional capacities of municipal governments. The Coordinator of Non-Governmental Organizations for Development-Spain and the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) will each receive 600,000 euros. Next on the list are the Association of Spanish Language Academies (ASALE), with €590,000 to strengthen the Spanish language and “consolidate the position of Spanish as a strategic instrument and tool of public diplomacy in the international context”; the Barcelona Institute for Global Health Foundation (ISGlobal), with €426,600; and MedCities, with €300,000. Other beneficiary entities include the Commission for Cultural, Educational and Scientific Exchange between Spain and the United States of America, with 250,000 euros; the Albéniz Foundation, with 177,000 euros; the Spain USA Foundation, with 175,000 euros (to “promote, support and carry out cultural, scientific and educational activities of interest to Spain and the United States”); the Technological Center of the Sea-CETMAR Foundation, with 150,000 euros; the Casa América Catalunya Private Foundation, with 150,000 euros; the Institute for Studies on Conflicts and Humanitarian Action (IECAH), with 75,000 euros; IFEMA and RAICEX (Network of Associations of Spanish Researchers and Scientists Abroad), with 40,000 euros each; and the Municipal Culture Foundation of the City Council of Cádiz, with 15,000 euros.

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