The regional government of Aragon is making €9 million in regional funds available to ease the burden on farmers from rising fertiliser and agricultural diesel prices. The Gobierno de Aragón announced this on 30 September 2026. According to the government, around €4.5 million from the European agricultural reserve (reserva agrícola europea) will be added. This takes the total support to more than €13.5 million.
Responsibility lies with the Departamento de Agricultura, Ganadería y Alimentación. The administration justified the move by pointing to recently increased operating costs in the primary sector. The announcement did not yet give specific allocation criteria, application deadlines or individual grant rates; the government said it would publish the details shortly.
The announcement in Zaragoza follows nationwide relief for fertiliser purchases, launched by Spain’s Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación on 4 September 2026. According to the ministry, payments to a large number of businesses were due to begin that day. In September, trade associations in Aragón had repeatedly called for additional regional aid. UPA Aragón called for coordinated action by Madrid and the regional government, saying that the cost situation was “strangling” the sector. Several organisations also announced protests against high prices for gasóleo agrario and fertilisers.
The issue was also recently on the regional political agenda. Opposition representatives pointed, among other things, to the extra burden of more expensive agricultural diesel and the economic consequences of summer forest fires, and called for targeted aid for the businesses worst affected. According to the government, the regional funding component now approved is intended to provide businesses with short-term liquidity and complement national and European measures.
It remains unclear whether the total package of more than €13.5 million will meet demand. Trade associations such as ASAJA have been calling for structural relief alongside emergency aid for months, including tax measures on diesel, support for energy-efficient investment and stabilisation of fertiliser markets at European level. The Gobierno de Aragón says that further decisions depend on the forthcoming technical implementing provisions. Agricultural businesses and associations are awaiting the official details in the official gazette and a swift start to the application process.
With the increase announced now, Aragón is responding to sustained cost pressures in the agricultural sector. However, political disagreement over the scale and design of future aid is likely to continue, alongside talks between the associations, the regional government and the Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación.
Editor: Daniel Mayer (Article created with AI assistance).