Spain allocates €4.9 billion in PAC 2026 subsidies to over half‑million farmers

A total of 563,095 farmers and ranchers submitted a single application for the 2026 Common Agricultural Policy (PAC) aid in Spain, the fourth year of the 2023‑2027 Strategic Plan. Direct subsidies amount to €4.897 billion and will be paid, with advances by autonomous communities, and the bulk of the funds must be disbursed before 30 June 2027.

Eighty‑two percent of applicants also opted for eco‑schemes, covering 19.2 million hectares (about 88 % of the area declared for the basic sustainability rent aid). The declared cultivated area remains steady at 22.03 million hectares, only slightly below 2025’s 22.07 million hectares. The number of applicants fell 3.3 % year‑on‑year, reflecting a trend toward fewer but larger farms and increasing professionalisation.

In Castilla‑La Mancha, 86,470 applicants requested aid for roughly 4.2 million hectares, with about 3.4 million hectares under eco‑schemes. The region highlighted requests for pastures, fallow land, barley, olive groves, vineyards, wheat and nuts.

The data confirm the consolidation of eco‑schemes, a key innovation of the 2023‑2027 PAC to promote voluntary environmentally beneficial farming practices.