This is a subsidy intended to maintain, reactivate and promote this activity in the Islands.
The Ministry of Economy, Industry, Commerce and Self-Employed of the Government of the Canary Islands, through the General Directorate of Industry, has published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (BOC) on August 14 the order opening a call for aid aimed at supporting the craft sector of the Canary Islands.
The amount of this subsidy amounts to 414.000 euros and the objective is to provide artisan people and companies, as well as agents related to the artisan sector, public or private, with means of financing activities aimed at both the training of artisans, as well as the improvement of their workshops and the marketing of their products at fairs or other events.
The purpose of Law 3/2001, of June 26, on Canary Islands Crafts, is to promote the conservation, modernization and restructuring of craft activities, as well as to encourage the necessary marketing channels. In addition to promoting and encouraging the training of artisans and promoting the sector's accessibility to lines of credit or subsidies from the Public Administration.
Along these lines, and contributing to the achievement of such goals, the Department of Economy, Industry, Commerce and the Self-Employed has launched this new aid program that will not only be focused on the celebration of the Canary Islands Craft Fair, but will complement with other actions aimed individually at people and craft companies that facilitate training, strengthening the activity and its projection abroad.
The vice president and counselor of Economy, Industry, Commerce and the Self-Employed of the regional Executive, Manuel Domínguez, assures that this aid will contribute to “the conservation, modernization and restructuring of artisan activities in the Canary Islands, to promote the creation and development of channels of adequate marketing for artisan products, to recover the artisanal manifestations of the Archipelago and to consolidate the maintenance of the existing ones, as well as to promote the training of artisans on the Islands.” “What it is about – he continues – is to maintain, reactivate and promote artisanal activity in the Canary Islands.”
Among the beneficiaries of this subsidy are artisans and companies dedicated to this activity, as well as public administrations that develop actions to support crafts. The eligible activities are aimed at both the training of artisans, the improvement of their workshops and the marketing of their products at fairs or other similar events that highlight the artisan productive activity on the Islands.
Likewise, within the evaluation criteria of the applications received, the generational change, the traditional trade and the trade at risk of disappearance will be taken into account. The subsidy will be annual, so the execution period for the eligible action will end on October 31, 2023, and the period for justifying the subsidized action will end on November 15 of this same year. In the event that early payment of the subsidy is requested, the deadlines for execution and justification are established as December 31, 2024, in both cases.
Among the eligible expenses of artisans and companies linked to the sector are those of transportation and accommodation during the days of the fair or promotional events outside the territory of the Autonomous Community, registration and insurance of the articles, derivatives the hiring of premises and the acquisition of machinery linked to the craft activity, including installation equipment; acquisition of computer equipment, as well as space rental: assembly and disassembly of booths, among others.
The deadline for submitting applications will be one month starting tomorrow, August 15, and will be done electronically at https://sede.gobiernodecanarias.org/sede/tramites/8208. The application must be accompanied by a performance report and must prove a valid craftsman's card and registration in the Canary Islands crafts register.