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1. Legal/policy framework for the functioning and development of youth organisations

2. Public financial support

3. Initiatives to increase the diversity of participants

Legal/policy framework for the functioning and development of youth organisations

In Spain, the Spanish Youth Council (Consejo de la Juventud de España, CJE) has been the public institutional platform in charge of fostering the participation of youth in the political, social, economic and cultural development of the State in a global environment since its creation in 1983. It is also responsible for promoting intergovernmental cooperation and coordination between the Central State and the Autonomous Communities in the promotion of youth associations.

Associationism is a fundamental right, recognized in the Spanish Constitution (Constitución Española) in Article 22 (Artículo 22). It is recognised legally by the Organic Law 1/2002, of 22 March, regulating the Right of Association (Ley Orgánica 1/2002, de 22 de marzo, reguladora del Derecho de Asociación) andthe Royal Decree 1497/2003 of November 28, which approves the Regulation of the National Registry of Associations and its relationships with the other registries of associations (Real Decreto 1497/2003, de 28 de noviembre). In the specific case of youth associationism, it has also been under the Decree 397/1988, of April 22, regulating the registration of Youth Associations (Real Decreto 397/1988, de 22 de abril, por el que se regula la inscripción registral de Asociaciones juveniles). However, because of the constitutional nature of the Autonomous State and the division of powers, each Autonomous Community can develop its own rules regarding youth associations.

Public financial support

With regard to the programmes, the Youth Strategy 2020 (Estrategia Juventud 2020) brings together in its Strategic Axis 5 on Participation, Volunteering, Inclusion and Equality, the objective of enhancing the channels and tools to increase the participation and voluntary work of young associates and non-associates, especially those linked to ICT. For Strategic Axis 5, a budget of € 11,147,798.21 has been earmarked in 2014 and € 11,216,028.21 in 2015, as set out in the Strategy itself, as developed in chapter 1.7.

The Youth Institute (INJUVE) calls for the granting of subsidies for the maintenance, operation and equipping of youth associations, youth organisations and for those entities that provide services to youth at state level. At sub-state level,  the Autonomous regions have their own agencies for youth, while, at local level, the council of youth are the ones in charge of granting public aid for those same objectives.

Initiatives to increase the diversity of participants

The actions carried out by the Spanish Youth Council (Consejo de la Juventud de España, CJE) include offering spaces for reflection, joint work, training, dialogue with public authorities and State institutions, and carrying out the systematisation of the experience of the organised youth movement, opening new channels and channels of action.

In this way, the Spanish Youth Council establishes as a general objective of any youth association the construction of citizenship, linked to the will of change and social transformation that accompanies the associative movement from its beginnings. In recent years it has made great effort to support and assist in the coordination of the activities carried out by a group of associations focused on the struggle to achieve the social inclusion of marginalised groups.

The Spanish Youth Council stands out for having among its objectives the promotion of the association of immigrant youth, favouring the creation of associations and generating the necessary mechanisms for integration in existing associations. To this end, it carries out the Citizenship and Immigration Meetings (Encuentros de Ciudadanía e Inmigración), a space for reflection about the migratory reality and the possibilities that the youth organisations have to favour integration and intercultural coexistence.