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1. Structure of Decision-making

2. Main Themes

3. The National Agency for Youth

4. Policy monitoring and evaluation

Structure of Decision-making

Decentralized decision making

Article 48 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 (Constitución Española de 1978) states that “public authorities will promote the conditions for the free and effective participation of youth in the political, social, economic and cultural development.” Spain is a decentralised state, with youth competences distributed across three levels of government:

• General State Administration (AGE): leads at national level. Responsible for strategic direction, interministerial coordination, and representation in the EU/international arena.
• 17 Autonomous Communities and 2 Autonomous Cities (Ceuta and Melilla): each has exclusive competences in youth work, youth information, youth participation, youth welfare/social services, volunteering and associative life, as stated in their Statutes of Autonomy. Many have adopted their own Youth Laws, establishing regional youth institutes and councils.
• Local authorities (municipalities, provinces: implement youth programmes and services (youth centres, leisure, volunteering projects, youth information), often coordinated through the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (Federation Española de Municipios y Provincias, FEMP).

In practice, most direct youth actions are carried out by Autonomous Communities and local entities, given their competences in youth work and welfare. The State’s role is primarily to provide a strategic framework (Youth Strategy 2030), ensure coordination and manage European and national funding programme.

National bodies responsible 

At national level, youth policy is coordinated by the Ministry of Youth and Children (Ministerio de Juventud e Infancia, MJUI), created in November 2023 (structure set by Royal Decree 211/2024). MJUI presides the Interministerial Commission for Youth (Comisión Interministerial de Juventud), which ensures the mainstreaming of youth perspectives across ministries. The Commission includes representatives from all relevant departments, INJUVE, and the Spanish Youth Council (Consejo de Juventud de España, CJE) in an advisory capacity.

The Spanish Youth Institute (INJUVE) is the national public body attached to MJUI, responsible for implementing and coordinating youth policies. INJUVE works closely with Autonomous Communities, local authorities, and the Spanish Youth Council (CJE). A more detailed description of INJUVE can be found below in the subchapter “The National Agency for Youth.”

Main Themes

The main themes of Spanish youth policy are defined by the EJ2030, which acts as the overarching framework for youth action at national and regional level. Its guiding vision is a “new social contract with youth”, emphasising social justice, gender equality, democratic participation, and sustainability. (see Section 1.3 – Scope and contents for the full overview).

In practice, these axes establish the following policy priorities, which are detailed in the corresponding YouthWiki chapters for Spain:

• Education and training (see Chapter 6 – Education and Training)
• Employment and entrepreneurship (see Chapter 3 – Employment and Entrepreneurship)
• Emancipation and housing (see Chapter 4 – Social Inclusion)
• Health and well-being (see Chapter 7 – Health and Well-being)
• Social inclusion and equality (see Chapter 4 – Social Inclusion)
• Participation and volunteering (see Chapter 2 - 2. Voluntary Activities and Chapter 5 – Participation)
• Mobility (see Chapters 2.5, 3.7, and 6.5)
• Rural youth and territorial cohesion
• Knowledge and youth services (linked to the Spanish Youth Observatory)
• Governance and cooperation (current chapter)

Two cross-cutting priorities underpin all of the above:

• Young women and equality (see Chapter 4 – Social Inclusion)
• Environment and sustainability (see Chapter 9.5 Green volunteering, production and consumption)

The National Agency for Youth

The Spanish Youth Institute (INJUVE) is the national public body responsible for youth policy implementation and coordination.

Legal basis and structure

Created in 1977 (Real Decreto 1119/1977), its functions were redefined in 2005 (Real Decreto 486/2005) and most recently updated in 2025 (Real Decreto 608/2025), which strengthened its role and modernised its statute.

Since November 2023, INJUVE is attached to the Ministry of Youth and Children (MJUI), which presides over the Interministerial Commission for Youth and is responsible for national youth policy coordination.

Functions

According to its statutes, INJUVE is empowered to:

• Coordinate youth policy nationally and with Autonomous Communities (via the Interterritorial Youth Council) and local authorities (via the FEMP).
• Manage the Spanish Youth Observatory (Observatorio de la Juventud en España), responsible for research, indicators, and monitoring.
• Support youth participation through structured dialogue and cooperation with the Spanish Youth Council (CJE) and youth organisations.
• Promote equal opportunities for all youth, including emancipation, housing, health, and participation measures.
• Encourage international cooperation and manage European youth programmes, including Erasmus+ Youth and the European Solidarity Corps.
• Foster youth mobility and exchanges, both nationally and internationally.
• Undertake research into youth realities and provide evidence for policy-making.

Budget

INJUVE is financed by the General State Administration and by EU funds (mainly through Erasmus+ Youth and the European Solidarity Corps). In 2022, INJUVE’s allocation was around €55 million. Subsequent State Budgets (2023–2025) consolidated INJUVE’s financing within the MJUI, with higher overall resources earmarked for emancipation measures, mental health initiatives, and youth participation

 Policy monitoring and evaluation

Main functions of the Monitoring System

The monitoring system will provide information on the progress of implementation and at the same time facilitate understanding of the evolution of the strategy.

The monitoring of the strategy will be results-oriented and, as such, the information to be collected will therefore make it possible to measure the evolution of the main impact indicators, and this in turn will identify whether these developments are in line with the temporal scope of the strategy and shed light on the priorities for the three-year operational planning.

The evaluation of the Strategy will provide information on progress in the achievement of the objectives at three key key stages of implementation.

Interim evaluation reports in 2024 and 2028 and final evaluation report.

The actors involved in the monitoring and evaluation of the Strategy are:

1. Spanish Youth Institute
2. Management centres with responsibility for the implementation of the Strategy
3. Youth Governing Board
4. Interterritorial Youth Council
5. Spanish Youth Council
6. Working Groups and Open Dialogue with Youth of the Inter-ministerial Youth Commission
7. EU Youth Dialogue

[i] From the Basque Statute of Autonomy, the first one, established in 1979;until the Statute of Autonomy of Castile and Leon, the last one, established in 1983 (Comas Arnau, 2007, page 66)

[ii] Organic Laws are those laws constitutionally needed to legislate over certain matters. For the Spanish Legal System, the relationship between organic laws and ordinary laws is not hierarchical; it is a relationship according to the subject (artículo 81.1 CE). They also require a further consensus in order to be approved, the overall majority in the National Parliament).