Council of Ministers

The Government of Spain promotes the regulation of apprenticeships, which cannot be used to replace workers

Council of Ministers - 2025.11.4

People undergoing training in companies or organisations are entitled to payment of expenses and to have an individualised plan and a mentor.

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

4/11/2025. Press conference after the Council of Ministers. The Second Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister for Work and S... The Second Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister for Work and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, the Minister for Education, Vocational Training and Sports and Government Spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, and the Minister for Health, Mónica García (Pool Moncloa / Jose Manuel Álvarez)

The Council of Ministers dealt with the draft Law on the Statute of people undergoing practical non-work training. The text regulates training placements in companies, institutions and public or private bodies.

The Second Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister for Work and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, has stressed the importance of regulating the conditions of "the wrongly named scholarship holders", who have often been training "without any rights". This group totals more than 1,655,000 people in Spain; 56% of them are women and 22% are over 30 years old. "Approximately one in ten salaried people in our country is in this situation, they are not an anecdote," Yolanda Díaz pointed out.

The Minister for Work expressed her gratitude for the dialogue with the social partners, as well as the contributions of the autonomous communities and all the actors involved in the matter. The Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sport has also been involved in designing the rules.

Delimitation of training practices and new rights

The Statute, as Díaz explained, clearly delimits what this training consists of, which "must be aimed simply at learning and nothing else, at training and not at replacing workers or labour relations in companies". Furthermore, it is stipulated that all activity beyond the training plan shall be considered as an ordinary employment relationship.

The text also sets out the obligations of the companies and public administrations where these placements are carried out, as well as the rights and duties of the trainees.

The Second Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister for Work and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, during her speech at the press conference after the Council of Ministers | Pool Moncloa / Jose Manuel Álvarez

The second vice-president stressed the right of these people to be compensated for the costs of training, such as travel and food. In addition, they must have a comprehensive training plan and a mentor; each of these managers may not be responsible for more than five people, as a general rule.

Among the prohibitions, the Statute includes the prohibition of paying for training and segregating trainees from the spaces that make up the work environment, such as break rooms or canteens. In addition, the text limits distance training to 50% and excludes training in night work or shift work.

The second vice-president emphasised that these people are also protected by Convention 190 of the International Labour Organization, which recognises the right to a working environment free of violence and harassment, and by the fact that, since 1 January 2024, students who have undertaken unpaid training placements are included in the Social Security system.

Finally, the text increases the penalties for infringements to 225,000 euros.

"We are once again doing something key: improving the life of our country," said the Minister for Work and Social Economy. Yolanda Díaz recalled that almost four years ago the labour reform was approved has led Spain to a record number of employed people and to lead the creation of jobs in the European Union, with higher quality employment. The Statute promoted today, she added, "is the labour reform for the new generations".

Cancer screening programmes

The Minister for Health, Mónica García, at the press conference after the Council of Ministers | Pool Moncloa / Jose Manuel Álvarez

The Minister for Health, Mónica García, has informed that the Government has sent a formal request to several autonomous communities to provide, as soon as possible, the available indicators for breast, colorectal and cervical cancer screening programmes. This request responds to the need for homogeneous and updated data in order to effectively evaluate these programmes throughout the national territory.

During her appearance at the press conference following the Council of Ministers, Mónica García explained that the Ministry of Health had already requested these indicators from the autonomous communities, which were unanimously approved, but some have not responded to the request.

The new request is based on the existing legal framework, the minister stressed, and activates the mechanism to ensure that the law is complied with: "It is our obligation to defend the right of the population to have effective cancer prevention throughout the territory."

Mónica García argued that cancer prevention and screening programmes are the "alma mater" of our health system: "When a screening programme fails, you are not losing data, you are losing the chance to protect lives. In this context, she referred to management failures in Andalusia, where women relied on the programme to prevent cancer or its spread and "have been abandoned".

The regional governments, the minister stressed, have to protect women's health and decide "whether they are on the side of transparency or on the side of institutional disloyalty."

The Minister for Health stressed that the Executive will not allow the National Health System to be put at risk: "Mammograms in this country are sacred, women's health in this country is sacred, our healthcare system is sacred. And we will not allow institutional negligence or laziness to jeopardise women's ability to feel safe and well cared for."

Fewer administrative burdens for SMEs

The Minister for Education, Vocational Training and Sports and Government Spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, at the press conference after the Council of Ministers

The Council of Ministers has analysed the draft law to update the business size thresholds in order to reduce administrative burdens for small and medium-sized companies.

This regulation, explained the Minister for Education, Vocational Training and Sports and Government Spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, transposes the European regulation that raises the criteria for turnover and assets so that, for financial reporting purposes, companies that until now were considered medium-sized are now classified as small. The change will mean that these companies will face fewer obligations or costs and this will make it easier for them to use these resources to strengthen their competitiveness.

For financial reporting purposes, a small company will be defined as one with a balance sheet total of up to 7.5 million and a net turnover of up to 15 million (as opposed to 4 million and 8 million for both categories previously). As a result, according to data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, 98.5% of Spanish companies will have access to a model with reduced administrative burdens in terms of accounting information.

Contribution to the European Palestinian Emergency Mechanism

Pilar Alegría also reported on the approval by the Council of Ministers of Spain's voluntary contribution of 46 million euros to the European Palestinian Emergency Mechanism. The minister detailed that this allocation will be used for assistance to vulnerable families, healthcare and support to the Palestinian Authority.

Also in the international sphere, the ministry headed by José Manuel Albares presented to the Council of Ministers the work begun in preparation for the next Ibero-American Summit, to be held in Madrid on 4 and 5 November 2026.

Granting of nationality to descendants of members of the International Brigades

The Second Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister for Work and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, the Minister for Education, Vocational Training and Sports and Government Spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, and the Minister for Health, Mónica García | Pool Moncloa / Jose Manuel Álvarez

In relation to Democratic Memory, the minister confirmed that, as the president of the Government of Spain announced at the ceremony for the Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the victims of the military coup, the War and the Dictatorship, the Council of Ministers has approved the granting Spanish nationality to 171 descendants of members of the International Brigades.

"We are talking about 54 children and 117 grandchildren of international brigaders, men and women who, by virtue of the Law of Democratic Memory, have requested this right," said Alegría, for whom this recognition is "another step forwards in the defence of memory and democracy".