The Ministry of Labour and Social Economy is the primary authority responsible for the design and implementation of youth employment and entrepreneurship policies in Spain. It plays a key role in coordinating the relevant actors and is responsible for  overseeing the Youth Guarantee System (Sistema de Garantía Juvenil). In addition, the Autonomous Regions (Comunidades Autónomas) play a fundamental role in the projection, definition, implementation and management of public action concerning youth employment and entrepreneurship, ensuring that local needs are met while aligning with national objectives. The regions work with various competent departments (e.g. Employment, Education, Social Affairs and Youth)  to ensure effective implementation.

In the first semester of 2020, the Spanish Government presented the National Reform Plan 2021 (Programa Nacional de Reformas 2021) which includes initiatives aimed at promoting employment, particularly for young people. The Plan focused on renewing of the Strategy for Employment Activation 2021-2024 (Estrategia para la activación del Empleo 2021-2024).

This strategy is mainly funded through the Spanish Government´s budget, with additional funds allocated from the vocational training for employment and national unemployment contributions.

The specific objectives of the Spanish Active Employment Support Strategy 2021-2024 are the following:

• Improve the employability and labour market insertion of unemployed and employed people with greater difficulties in accessing or remaining employment.
• Promote equal opportunities in access to employment and non-discrimination in the labour market.
• Promote quality employment and sustainable entrepreneurship.
• Strengthen territorial and social cohesion through employment.
• To improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the National Employment System.

A new Spanish Active Employment Support Strategy for the period 2025–2028 is currently under development and is expected to be adopted by Royal Decree in the coming months.

In June 2021, the Council of Ministers approved the Youth Guarantee Plus 2021-2027 Plan for decent work for young people (Plan Garantía Juvenil Plus 2021-2027 de trabajo digno para las personas jóvenes). This plan, which aims to create decent work opportunities for young people, focuses on improving the employability and training of youth while ensuring quality and stable employment opportunities. 

The main objectives are:

• To increase the accessibility of the plan and to grant greater dissemination of the Plan among inactive, low-skilled and more vulnerable young people.
• To advance in the improvement and deepening of inter-institutional coordination, in order to facilitate the exchange of information and the coordination of efforts among the different stakeholders at the state, regional and local levels.
• Consolidate the relationship with the private sector to foster the creation of quality and stable employment.
• To improve the employability and training of young people, as well as to seek new sectors that offer young people stable and quality employment opportunities.

Additionally, Spain continues to benefit from EU initiatives like the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), which are aligned with national plans like Youth Guarantee Plus. These funding mechanisms aim to support employment programmes, vocational training, and entrepreneurship initiatives for young people across Spain.