Spain pays €30,000 to 320 hauliers leaving the profession — deadline 19 October

Spain’s Secretaría de Estado de Transportes y Movilidad Sostenible signed, on 26 August, the final 2026 resolution granting aid to self-employed road hauliers who leave the profession. It covers 320 beneficiaries, with €30,000 each, a total of €9.6 million.

Who qualifies

The aid targets self-employed road hauliers with recognised total or absolute permanent disability for the profession, or of advanced age, under Orden FOM/3218/2009, as amended in 2012 and 2017. Where applicants outnumber the available budget, the resolution gives priority to those with recognised disability; the rest are ranked by descending age until the budget runs out.

According to CETM, more than a thousand applicants who met the requirements were left out purely for lack of budget — proof that demand far exceeds the €9.6 million available each year.

Deadline: 19 October

Anyone listed as a beneficiary in Annex 1 of the resolution has until 19 October 2026 to submit, through the Ministry’s electronic office, the documentation required under Article 10 of Orden FOM/3218/2009. Missing that deadline forfeits the right to the aid.

What this says about the sector

The aid for leaving the activity has existed since 2009 and is renewed every year with the same goal: letting older or disabled hauliers exit the profession with compensation, without waiting for retirement age. It shows the other side of the driver shortage the IRU has been flagging across Europe — the same generation now retiring is the one the sector is struggling to replace in the cab.

The aid does not apply to Portuguese hauliers, except those registered as self-employed operators in Spain.