THE DIRECT EXPANSION LINE (LIC A) LINKED TO THE CDTI AEROSPACE AND HEALTH PERTES REMAINS OPEN

We would like to remind you that CDTI is still accepting applications for the DIRECT EXPANSION LINE (LIC A) AEROSPACE AND HEALTH programme. The aim of this programme is to boost innovation in certain Spanish regions by enhancing the capabilities of companies proposing technologically innovative investment projects that facilitate their growth and are aligned with these two areas:

• AEROSPACE AREA: projects relating to the design, development, manufacture, operation and maintenance of manned and unmanned aircraft, space vehicles and propulsion systems, as well as the corresponding infrastructure required for their operation (such as airports, air navigation systems, launch bases, or satellite tracking stations) and to carry out experimentation and testing tasks during their development phases. Also, the development of commercial services directly related to aeronautics and space infrastructure.
• CUTTING-EDGE HEALTH AREA: projects aimed at promoting and protecting health through the development and incorporation of products, innovative procedures and digital solutions that add value to the prevention, diagnosis, treatment or rehabilitation of patients in a personalised manner.

Below, we outline the main features of this programme:

BENEFICIARIES:

Companies (SMEs and large companies), Agricultural Transformation Companies, Cooperative Societies, Employee-Owned Companies, Public Business Entities, State-Owned Commercial Companies, etc., that carry out an investment project in the assisted regions:

• “c” areas according to the aid map – only SMEs may be beneficiaries: Aragón (excluding the city of Zaragoza), Asturias, Balearic Islands, Cantabria, Castile and León, Catalonia (partially), Community of Madrid (partially), Valencian Community, Galicia, Navarre (partially), La Rioja and the Basque Country (partially).
• “a” areas according to the aid map – SMEs and large companies: Canary Islands, Andalusia, Extremadura, Castile-La Mancha, City of Ceuta and City of Melilla, Murcia.

Excluded sectors: steel, lignite, coal, transport, energy (production, storage, transport, distribution and infrastructure), broadband, fisheries and aquaculture, primary agricultural production (except for the processing and marketing of agricultural products), coal mine closures, export-related activities, nuclear power plants, etc.

TYPES OF PROJECTS:

Individual technological innovation projects linked to the Aerospace and Cutting-Edge Health PERTES, carried out by companies, applied in nature, very close to the market and with medium/low technological risk, with an easy path to achieving the expected technical and commercial objectives and short investment payback periods, supporting the company in improving its competitiveness through the incorporation of emerging technologies, implemented in certain Spanish regions:

• Aid for initial investment:
  • The creation of a new establishment.
  • The expansion of the capacity of an existing establishment.
  • The diversification of an establishment’s production into products or services.
  • A fundamental transformation of the overall production process of the product or products.
• Aid for initial investment in favour of a new economic activity:
  • The creation of a new establishment.
  • The diversification of an establishment’s activity, provided that the new activity is not identical or similar to the activity previously carried out at the establishment.
• Not eligible for funding are actions that directly or indirectly cause harm to the environment:
  • Those related to fossil fuels, unless they concern the generation of electricity and/or heat using natural gas, as well as the related transport and distribution infrastructure, provided they comply with Annex III of the Technical Guidance on the application of the DNSH principle.
  • Those included within the EU ETS framework whose estimated greenhouse gas emissions are not below the relevant benchmarks.
  • Those related to waste landfills and incinerators and to mechanical biological treatment plants.
  • Those in which the long-term disposal of waste may cause harm to the environment.

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS:

• Incentive effect: the application must be submitted before the investments begin.
• Implemented in certain assisted regions.
• Duration: minimum 9 months and maximum 18 months, with a single milestone, with the possibility of an extension. Maximum until 2026-12-31.
• Budget: between €175,000 and €30,000,000.
• The investment must be maintained in the beneficiary area for at least five years, or at least three years in the case of SMEs.
• Provide a minimum financial contribution of 25% of eligible costs, either through own resources or through external financing free of any type of public aid.
• Financing with funds from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism à It will be necessary to demonstrate compliance with the DNSH principle: a positive ex ante DNSH compliance report must be provided issued by an entity accredited by ENAC, before signing the loan agreement with CDTI (maximum period: 3 months from approval of the aid).
• This aid is incompatible with any other aid.
• Alignment with one of the lines identified for the Cutting-Edge Health area or the Aerospace area:

CUTTING-EDGE HEALTH AREA: to promote and protect health through the development and incorporation of products, innovative procedures and digital solutions that add value to the prevention, diagnosis, treatment or rehabilitation of patients in a personalised manner. Projects must align with one of the following points:

• Cross-cutting lines:
  • Maintain Spain’s leadership position in clinical research and retain investments from pharmaceutical companies.
  • Invest in the development, digitalization and modernization of industrial capacity and facilitate the shift of production chains toward high-value-added diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitative innovation, expanding our industrial autonomy.
• Strategic objectives:
  • Promoting personalized precision medicine.
  • Development of advanced therapies and other innovative drugs.
  • Improvement of prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and health-oriented research based on the collection, processing, analysis and exploitation of data.
  • Digital transformation of healthcare under secure cybersecurity conditions.

AEROSPACE AREA: those relating to the design, development, manufacture, operation and maintenance of manned and unmanned aircraft, space vehicles and propulsion systems, as well as the corresponding infrastructure required for their operation (such as airports, air navigation systems, launch bases, or satellite tracking stations) and to carry out experimentation and testing tasks during their development phases. Also, the development of commercial services directly related to aeronautics and space infrastructure. The fields of action are as follows:

• In aeronautics:
  • Research and development aimed at increasing aircraft efficiency and significantly reducing polluting emissions from air transport, including airport infrastructure and air navigation systems that enable more efficient air traffic.
  • New developments of unmanned aircraft and the necessary software and hardware infrastructure for their safe operation in shared airspace.
  • On-board systems and equipment.
• In space:
  • Design of payloads related to environmental monitoring, quantum communications and security in international cooperation.
  • Strengthen Spanish technological capabilities for the commercial use of space (including New Space).
• Cross-cutting lines:
  • Sustainability, digitalisation and innovation in the aerospace industry, including innovative maintenance systems such as predictive analytics and real-time monitoring.

ELIGIBLE COSTS

Acquisition of new fixed assets that involve technological innovation and improve the company’s productive capabilities, which may include:

• Tangible assets: consisting of machinery and equipment.
• Intangible assets: assets without physical or financial materialisation, but that are amortisable, such as patents, licences, technical know-how or other intellectual or industrial property rights.
  • In the case of large companies:
    • They will only be eligible for funding up to a limit of 50% of the total eligible investment costs of the project for the initial investment.
    • In the case of a fundamental transformation of the production process: eligible costs must exceed the depreciation of the assets relating to the activity to be modernised in the previous three fiscal years.
  • In the case of diversification of an establishment, for both large companies and SMEs: eligible costs must be at least 200% of the book value of the reused assets in the previous fiscal year.

AID:

• Partially repayable aid of up to 75% of the total eligible budget, with a non-repayable tranche (TNR) of 20%.
• Loan features:
  • Interest rate: fixed and equal to the one-year Euribor + 0.75% at the time the aid is approved. In the event of a negative Euribor, its value will be considered as zero.
  • The repayment period will be 10 years, with a 2-year principal grace period from the planned project end date (3.5 years of grace in total).
  • Semi-annual repayments.
  • Early repayment, in full or in part, without penalty, but never before the end of the grace period.

GUARANTEES AND ADVANCES

• Guarantees: CDTI may require the provision of guarantees for the repayment of the aid when the company’s economic and financial analysis so requires. Where applicable, CDTI may apply a reduction or exemption of the requested guarantees, with a maximum exemption limit calculated at the company or business group level, in accordance with the new exemption measures published in March 2025.
• Possibility of an advance payment of up to 90% of the aid granted, without additional financial guarantees (unless deemed necessary following the company’s economic and financial analysis).

SUBMISSION DEADLINE:

The window is permanently open. Until December 31, 2025.

If your company has a project that fits this call and you are interested in applying for funding, at IMPULSO we offer a comprehensive support service throughout the entire life of the application, from drafting the proposal to final justification and payment collection. Thanks to our experience, you will be able to take advantage of this great funding opportunity.

April 22, 2025