The City Council will award four prizes totaling 5,000 euros, plus a special prize from the Rotary Club Benidorm worth 2,000 euros
Benidorm extends the deadline for submitting projects to the 19th Entrepreneurial Ideas Competition until December 22nd
Proposals can be submitted through the municipal Electronic Office
The Department of Employment and Local Promotion of Benidorm City Council has extended the deadline to December 22nd for participation in the 19th Entrepreneurial Ideas Competition, which annually awards and recognises “the best viable business projects that help to revitalise and diversify Benidorm's productive sector.” The councillor for the department, Mónica Gómez, explained that “we have extended the deadline so that entrepreneurs have more time to finalise and adapt their project presentations and gather the necessary documentation, thus encouraging the largest possible number of applications.”
Gómez noted that this competition “contributes to promoting an entrepreneurial culture and presenting self-employment as a viable option for entering the workforce, thereby reinforcing the actions promoted throughout the year by the Local Employment and Promotion Agency with this objective.”
The councilwoman pointed out that, “as in previous years, the Local Employment and Promotion Agency has the support of business entities and institutions committed to entrepreneurship for this competition, such as the Rotary Club of Benidorm, the Valencian Institute of Tourism Technologies (Invattur), the European Center for Innovative Businesses (CEEI-Elche), the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of the Marina Baixa (MEMBA), and JOVEMPA-Marina Baixa.”
Following the extension, the deadline for submitting proposals to this competition will be open until 11:59 p.m. on December 22. As in previous years, proposals must be submitted electronically through the City Hall's Electronic Office (https://sede.benidorm.org), via the General Registry section. Only one project per person or group of people may be submitted, and submissions made after the deadline will be disqualified.
The call for proposals can be found in the Official Gazette of the Province (BOP) and in the Employment Department section of the municipal website. According to these guidelines, projects formalised during 2024 or 2025 are eligible to participate. In addition to the required documentation, the project must be accompanied by an explanatory report, with a maximum length of 30 pages, containing information such as the project's definition and purpose; the business location and its justification; the viability of the business project, detailing the technical aspects of production, marketing, and financial considerations; the projected number of jobs to be created; and the legal structure to be adopted.
Mónica Gómez explained that the evaluation of proposals submitted to this competition will be carried out in three phases. In the first phase, all proposals will be assessed by staff from the Local Employment and Development Agency to verify that they meet the requirements established in the call for proposals. Those projects that meet the criteria will be evaluated in a second phase by the competition's jury, which will assess the following: innovation, economic viability, technical feasibility, knowledge of the potential market, and development of the business in Benidorm. Projects submitted by individuals registered as residents of Benidorm will receive an initial score in this phase, as will groups in which at least half of the members meet the residency requirement.
In the third and final phase, the selected ideas will be presented to the jury, which will evaluate both the presentation and the originality of the project.
In this edition of the competition, the City Council plans to award two prizes and two runner-up prizes, totalling €5,000. Specifically, the best business idea will receive a prize of €2,500, while a second prize of €1,500 is planned. There will also be two runner-up prizes of €500 each for the project with the greatest social responsibility and the greatest contribution to tourism promotion, respectively. Additionally, the first two prize winners will have the opportunity to launch their projects at the Local Employment and Promotion Agency's Coworking Space. Furthermore, the winning idea will receive a free year of membership to Jovempa, and the winning projects submitted by women will receive membership to MEMBA.
In addition to these prizes, there is the special ‘Batiste Fuster’ Award, granted by the Rotary Club of Benidorm, worth €2,000. This award will be given to the project that best addresses the aspects of accessibility, solidarity, quality, sustainability, innovation, and creativity.
In the last edition, seven projects were finalists for these awards, which, as the councilwoman stated, “are a very attractive and interesting springboard for entrepreneurs to showcase their projects.”