The Gran Canaria Proyecta Moda initiative, 100% funded by the Gran Canaria Island Council, offers paid internships to young people with a degree in fashion.
Minerva Alonso: “The synergies created between designers and students have been very productive: they improve
“This initiative is a clear commitment to the future, to young people, to training, to talent, and to employment. This first learning laboratory of the Gran Canaria Moda Calidad program has been a success. As has the collaboration with the FULP. We are also studying the possibility of increasing the number of scholarship students by 2026. The synergies created between designers and students have been very productive: they improve their training, their creativity, and, of course, their future job integration.” This is the assessment made by Minerva Alonso, Councilor for Economic Development, Industry, Commerce, and Crafts of the Gran Canaria Island Council, at the meeting held this Thursday with the scholarship recipients, designers, and managers of the Las Palmas University Foundation—in other words, everyone involved in Gran Canaria Proyecta Moda.
In his speech, Alonso recalled that "Gran Canaria Moda Cálida is the only publicly funded program in Spain to support the fashion and design sector. With a budget of €3,5 million, we implement local promotion and marketing initiatives, subsidies for workshop modernization and branding, and also for major international events such as Gran Canaria Swim Week. We also have a training program with the Spanish Fashion Designers Association and an internationalization and advisory plan with the Chamber of Commerce." The objective of the Gran Canaria Island Council is for "this program to generate economic growth, create jobs, and improve self-employment," he added.
For his part, the president of the Las Palmas University Foundation (FULP), Alberto Cabré, stated that “Gran Canaria Proyecta Moda is an opportunity that offers recent graduates in the fashion sector their first work experience working with leading Canarian designers and all the learning that this entails.” He also highlighted that “the FULP’s collaboration in this program, as the managing entity, is yet another example of our commitment to the employability of young graduates, while also addressing the digital and innovation skills demanded by the labor market.”
At this meeting, which served to assess and share experiences from this first edition, Nuria González, a well-established brand in the Gran Canaria Moda Cálida Program, also spoke as a spokesperson for the designers. She pointed out that "linking the school with professionals and companies is essential; there must be a connection." She added: "It's very gratifying to share my entire professional background with young people graduating from school. Everything I've learned through my experience and my work can help others. It's a time to pass on all this knowledge. But they also bring us freshness, enthusiasm, and a desire to do things. It's a sharing that benefits both parties."
Mariam Quintana, speaking on behalf of the fellows, expressed a similar sentiment: "I'm very grateful for this opportunity. I've learned a lot. I'm using machines I've never used before, and I'm entering a sector I never thought I'd enter, swimwear, which is so important to the island of Gran Canaria."
About Gran Canaria Proyecta Moda
The Gran Canaria Island Council, through Moda Cálida, has launched Gran Canaria Proyecta Moda, a program developed by the Las Palmas University Foundation. It is designed to offer non-work internships to individuals with a bachelor's degree, intermediate or advanced training course, in the fashion sector. The internships, which last a maximum of six months and include financial assistance, are intended to provide a diverse and enriching training experience in organizations linked to the sector within the framework of the Moda Cálida learning laboratory of the Gran Canaria Island Council.
This program is fully funded by the Gran Canaria Island Council through the Ministry of Economic Development, Industry, Commerce, and Crafts, and has a total funding of €61.000. The internship is paid €711, approximately €680 net, to cover transportation costs.
The program includes 150 hours of theoretical training in cross-curricular skills (sustainability, digital, and language) and up to 30 hours of practical training per week in companies.
For this 2025 call, 10 places were made available and it has had the collaboration of 12 fashion design companies, linked to the Gran Canaria Moda Cálida Program: Carmen González, Chacho Souvenirs, Arantxa Arenas, Pedro Palmas, Nuria González, Santiago Carballo, Karen Quintana from Volcano Blood, Storyteller Studio, Hellen Green Canarias and Tabajoste.
Regarding the requirements to participate, interested parties must be over 18 years of age, have completed studies related to the fashion sector in 2022, 2023, or 2024, and be unemployed at the time of accepting the grant. To be eligible for this training, applicants must not hold any other scholarship or have any paid work. Furthermore, applicants must be registered on the Las Palmas University Foundation's Employment Portal and have a complete and up-to-date CV.
For further information, interested persons can go to the website https://www.fulp.es/estudiantes-y-titulados/gran-canaria-moda-calida or to the email [ mailto:ppgad@pucrs.br | ppgad@pucrs.br ].
About the Gran Canaria Warm Fashion Program
Gran Canaria Moda Cálida is a program focused on the island's fashion textile sector, created and promoted by the Department of Economic Development, Industry, Commerce, and Crafts of the Gran Canaria Island Council. For this institution, fashion is a growing sector with potential for industrial expansion, and Gran Canaria Moda Cálida serves as the platform for designers and companies to support their projects.
