The Local Government Board approves the first public aid call for the sector, endowed with €100,000. Workshops can finance digitisation and hiring of young people under 30 years old.
The City Council of Seville has given the green light this Friday in the Local Government Board to the first public call for grants to promote entrepreneurship in the Sacred Art sector. The measure comes with an initial allocation of €100,000 and is aimed at the artisan workshops in the city.
The objective is twofold: to modernise the digital presence of these businesses and to ensure generational change. According to the City Council, many of these crafts are only preserved internationally in the Seville workshops, hence the need to ensure their continuity.
The call is structured into two lines of aid. The first subsidises the modernisation of workshops with ten subsidisable services, including corporate identity, website, online store, digital catalogues, search engine optimisation, or social media management. It covers up to 100% of the justified expenditure, with a maximum of €5,000 and a minimum expenditure of €1,500.
The second line also finances up to €5,000 for the hiring of unemployed young people under 30 years, with contracts of at least six months and full-time. Those applying to both lines can receive up to €6,500.
Micro-enterprises and self-employed individuals with activity in Seville and registered in the Andalusian Craft Registry in any of the 21 crafts included, such as goldsmithing, embroidery, imagery, carving, candle-making, trimmings, or restoration, will be able to apply. Expenses for digitisation incurred from 1 July 2026 and contracts formalised from 1 January will be eligible for funding. Workshops that have already invested or hired this year will also be able to apply.
The municipal spokesperson, Juan Bueno, highlighted the economic weight of the sector in the city.
“Sacred Art has more than six centuries of history in Seville and is also an economic activity that provides employment in the city. Its workshops face two specific challenges: having young people willing to learn the trade and ensuring their work reaches customers who now shop online. This call addresses both at once.”
The call has been developed in collaboration with the guild association of Sacred Art of Seville. The spokesperson emphasised that this is the first time the City Council has launched such aid and that it has been designed with those who work daily in the workshops.
“Seville has a craft heritage that other international capitals cannot replicate, so we must ensure it continues to generate activity and qualified employment for the young people of this city.”
Applications will be evaluated on a competitive basis. The rules stipulate that 75% of the aid will be paid in advance upon resolution of the grant, and the remaining 25% after justification. The application period will be 15 working days from the publication of the extract in the Official Bulletin of the Province, through the municipal electronic headquarters. The initial credit may be increased if circumstances warrant.
In the same session, the Local Government Board approved the declaration of general, public, and social interest of the project “Casa de la Esperanza”, promoted by the Macarena Brotherhood to enable a social, cultural, training, and assistance centre aimed primarily at vulnerable individuals in the municipal building on Perafán de Rivera street. This declaration is an administrative first step towards the property concession.
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