Spain’s AI voucher (Bono IA). Turn up with your homework done.
The Spanish government is preparing a €600 million grant, known in Spain as the ‘Bono IA’, to help businesses build artificial intelligence into the way they work. You can’t apply for it yet. Here’s what’s in writing, what’s still missing and what you can be doing now so that, when it opens, your project is already clear.
Updated 28 October 2026 · Miguel A. Taboada, Unmedia (Vigo)
- What it is: the ‘business artificial intelligence voucher’, one of the 14 projects in the IA360 Plan the Spanish government presented in September 2026.
- What it pays for: AI projects carried out by European technology companies that do real work of their own: development, integration, data or process redesign.
- What it doesn’t pay for: simply subscribing to tools such as ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot.
- How it will be paid: in milestones, with staff training and measuring afterwards whether productivity improved.
- When: a pilot in the first half of 2027 and the general call before the end of 2027. You can’t apply today.
- What you can do now: pick a problem, measure it and get your data in order. I explain it step by step below.
Separating the official from the assumed.
Much of what’s going round about the AI voucher is guesswork based on Kit Digital, Spain’s earlier digitalisation grant for small businesses. This table separates what the plan document says from what nobody has said yet.
| Item | Status | What we know |
|---|---|---|
| Funding | Official | €600 million. |
| Beneficiary companies | Official | A target of 25,000 companies transformed. |
| What it funds | Official | AI services and solutions from European technology companies that add value of their own. |
| Licences | Official | It does not fund a mere licence subscription. |
| Payment | Official | Payments by milestone, with conditions on AI training for staff. |
| Project requirements | Official | A prior maturity assessment, a specific use case and measuring the impact afterwards. |
| Timetable | Official | Pilot in the first half of 2027; general call before the end of 2027. |
| Amount per company | Pending | No amount, no bands and no percentage covered. |
| Who can apply | Pending | The plan talks about companies and SMEs; sole traders aren’t expressly mentioned. |
| Body running it | Pending | Not stated. It’s widely assumed it will be Red.es, the public agency that ran Kit Digital, but that’s not official. |
| How providers register | Pending | The procedure doesn’t exist yet: today nobody is an ‘official provider’ of the AI voucher. |
It pays to change how you work, not to buy a tool.
What fits
- An assistant connected to your catalogue and your diary that answers your customers.
- Reading delivery notes or invoices and entering them into your management software automatically.
- Sorting and classifying the messages that come in through your website, email or WhatsApp.
- Rebuilding a process, such as quotes, orders or customer service, with AI built in.
- Models that run on your own hardware when the data can’t leave the building.
What doesn’t fit
- Paying for a year of ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot for the team.
- Buying licences for a tool nobody is going to connect to anything.
- ‘Some AI’ with no specific problem behind it.
- A project with no way of measuring whether it worked.
Five pieces that are already in the plan.
The call doesn’t exist yet, but the document does say what every project will need. That’s what’s worth preparing.
Assessment
A snapshot beforehand of how ready your business is: data, software and processes.
Use case
One specific problem the AI is going to solve. One, well defined, is better than five vague ones.
Milestone payments
The money arrives as the project moves forward, not all up front.
Training
The people who will use the tool have to learn how to use it.
Measurement
At the end, the impact on productivity is checked. Without a baseline figure there’s nothing to compare against.
A pilot first
A first phase to test the model before scaling it up. There won’t be enough for everyone from the start.
The plan was presented before Spain’s general election was called. From 29 November there will be a caretaker government, and it’s reasonable to expect the voucher’s rules to wait for the new government, which could also change it. As the timetable was already 2027, getting ready isn’t wasted time: the assessment and the use case are useful to you with or without the voucher.
What’s close to home for us.
- NEURONA network. The voucher is linked to a network of centres where businesses will be able to see AI working in their sector and try it with their own data, less than 50 kilometres away. First, a pilot with 100 SMEs in two regions before the end of 2026; in 2027, ten regions and 5,000 companies. It’s not yet known whether Galicia will be among the first.
- CESGA. Galicia’s supercomputing centre, in Santiago de Compostela, is one of the AI factories already running in Spain: one of the pieces the network will rely on.
- Igape. In 2026 the Xunta de Galicia (the Galician regional government), through Igape, its business development agency, ran a grant with a similar name, IA360 for industry. It’s a different programme and its deadline has already passed. It’s worth keeping an eye on the Xunta’s website in case Galician grants come out that can be added on top.
Most likely, yes.
Public grants usually use the European definition of an SME. You’d expect the AI voucher to use it too, although the rules don’t say so yet.
| Size | Staff | Turnover or balance sheet |
|---|---|---|
| Micro-business | Fewer than 10 people | Up to €2 million |
| Small | Fewer than 50 people | Up to €10 million |
| Medium-sized | Fewer than 250 people | Up to €50 million turnover or €43 million balance sheet |
What if I’m a sole trader? The plan doesn’t say. Under Kit Digital, sole traders counted as the smallest size of business, and it makes sense to think it’ll be similar here, but there’s nothing in writing. As soon as there is, I’ll put it here.
Five steps so you don’t turn up empty-handed.
When these calls come out there are usually only a few weeks, and the money goes quickly. Whoever already knows what they want to do, and what it costs them today, is ahead.
Pick a problem
The one that eats up most of your hours: answering the same questions, copying data by hand, preparing quotes.
Measure it today
Hours a week, mistakes, response times. That’s your baseline figure, and the voucher will ask for it.
Get your data in order
Catalogue, price lists, FAQs, orders: digital and all in one place.
Try it small
A few weeks of testing tell you whether the idea works before you ask for money for it.
Think about your team
Who will use the tool and how they’ll learn. Training will be a condition.
Be wary
Of anyone who already promises you an amount or charges you to ‘reserve’ the voucher. Nothing can be reserved today.
From idea to project, ready for when applications open.
- We pin down the use case and the baseline figure together.
- We set up a small pilot to see whether it really works.
- I document everything: the process before, the process after and how it’s measured.
- Custom development and integration, from Vigo, with local models when the data is sensitive.
Unmedia isn’t an ‘official provider’ of the AI voucher because that role doesn’t exist yet. When registration opens, I’ll say so on this page.
Tell me what takes up your time and I’ll tell you whether it makes sense as an AI project. If it doesn’t, I’ll tell you that too.
I’ll let you know when the rules come out.
One email when the call is published, with what changes for your case. Nothing else.
What people ask most about the AI voucher.
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Can I apply for the AI voucher yet?
No. As of 28 October 2026 there are no rules and no call for applications. The plan foresees a pilot in the first half of 2027 and the general call before the end of 2027.
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How much money will each company get?
Nobody knows. The plan sets €600 million in total and a target of 25,000 companies, but not the amount per company or the percentage it will cover. Be wary of anyone who already promises you a figure.
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Will it pay for a ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot subscription?
No. The plan says the voucher will not fund a mere licence subscription. It pays for services that change how your business works: development, integration with your software, data processing or process redesign.
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Can sole traders apply?
The plan document talks about companies and SMEs, without expressly mentioning sole traders (autónomos). In earlier schemes, such as Kit Digital, sole traders counted as micro-businesses. We’ll have to wait for the rules to know for sure.
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Is it the same as Kit Digital?
No. They are separate programmes. The AI voucher is designed for AI projects where the provider does real work of its own, transforms a process and measures the result afterwards, not for buying an off-the-shelf solution.
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Will the 29 November election affect it?
It may delay it. With Parliament (the Cortes) dissolved and a caretaker government from 29 November, the rules will most likely wait for the new government. The plan’s timetable is for 2027, so there’s still some leeway, but nothing is guaranteed.
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What can I do now so I’m not too late?
Pick one specific problem, measure what it costs you today, get your data in order and, if you can, try out a solution on a small scale. That gives you the assessment, the use case and the baseline figure the plan asks for.
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Is Unmedia a registered AI voucher provider?
Nobody is yet: the procedure for providers to register doesn’t exist so far. Unmedia is a European technology business, based in Vigo, that builds and integrates custom AI solutions. When registration opens, I’ll explain it here.
So you can check for yourself.
- IA360 Plan document (La Moncloa, in Spanish). The voucher is flagship project 11; the NEURONA network is number 10.
- Press release on the launch (La Moncloa, in Spanish).
- Red.es online office, where the Kit Digital calls were published.
- Xunta de Galicia online office, for Galician grants.
Got an idea for the AI voucher?
Tell me now, calmly, rather than in a rush when applications open.