The Council of Ministers approved this Tuesday, November 5, an agreement by which they declare Area seriously affected by a civil protection emergency (Zagepc) the territories of the peninsula and the Balearic Islands which, between October 28 and November 4, were affected by the passage of Isolated depression at high levels (DANA), which includes Andalusia, alongside the Valencian Community, Castile-La Mancha, Balearic Islands, Catalonia And Aragonwhere in some places the rains exceeded 600 liters per square meter in a few hours.
The declaration of an area seriously affected by a civil protection emergency, which is traditionally understood as “catastrophic zone”considers approval of extraordinary aid intended to relieve bodily damagematerial damage in housing and goods and in industrial, commercial and service establishments; aid to natural or legal persons who have provided personal and financial benefits; as well as the help for local businesses and other possible measures to be adopted regarding infrastructure repair, contractual regime, tax, labor and social security measures, as reported by the government.
Furthermore, the Council of Ministers approved, for the first time simultaneously, a Royal Decree-Law by which urgent measures are adopted to mitigate the damage caused in the most affected municipalities; more precisely, 75 in the province of Valenceone from the province of Albaceteanother of Basin and another from the province of Malaga.
The Government Delegation in Andalusia explained that “all the territories concerned will be reached”, and that the “initial” list of municipalities “can be extended to other” affected municipalities, while confirming that it has sent the Ministry of Territorial Policy “a relationship with the municipalities which suffered damage caused by DANA.”
Regarding the scope of Home officethe royal decree-law establishes improvements compared to the regulations generally applicable to emergency civil protection aid, “by quadrupling the amounts, facilitating procedures and removing requirements”.
Thus, the government indicates that aid intended to mitigate bodily injury and material damage to homes included in the AR 307/2005.
During the press conference following the Council of Ministers, the President of the Government, Pedro Sanchezexplained that these measures “are inspired by the experience accumulated in crisis management by this government over the last six years, and are mainly inspired by the socio-economic response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the eruption of La Palma Volcano“.
Thus, as happened during the pandemic, the Executive activated direct aid to affected citizens and businesses, “with as little paperwork as possible and with the greatest possible speed and agility”.
Concretely, the Government will transfer up to 72,000 euros for cases of disability; between 20,000 and 60,000 euros to repair damaged houses; up to 10,300 euros to change or repair damaged or lost furniture, appliances or goods; and up to 37,000 euros to repair elements of local communities, such as doors or elevators.
It will also transfer direct aid to small and medium-sized businesses and self-employed workers, domiciled for tax purposes in the areas concerned by DANA, for a value of 838 million euros. This aid will be intended for self-employed workers, and will range between 10,000 and 150,000 euros for companies, depending on their volume of activity.
“We believe that this will allow us to benefit 65,000 self-employed workersand around 30,000 companiesmainly small and medium-sized businesses,” commented Sánchez.
Strengthening municipal councils
The Council of Ministers also approved a series of measures aimed at strengthening the financial and human resources of the municipalities concerned. In this context, Sánchez valued the work of the mayors of these municipalities.
“We want mayors of all political persuasions to be able to provide the best possible service to citizens in these difficult circumstances and to be able to begin reconstruction work as quickly as possible,” he said.
It is for this reason that the Government will pay 100% of the emergency expenses that town halls have for DANA. “We will finance all actions linked to removal of mud, debris, unusable goods, supply of drinking water“, street cleaning, accommodation and maintenance of the neighbors concerned,” he said.
In addition, it will finance up to 50% of all the work that must be carried out in the coming months and years to repair facilities, infrastructure, both sports and road, civic centers, cultural centers, with the aim of “to recover”. normality and daily life in all these communities.
“We are going to compensate them for the municipal taxes that they will no longer receive during this crisis and we are going to expand their spending possibilities with the financially sustainable investments», added the President of the Government.
It will also be activated a emergency registration portal so that, via satellite, citizens “can certify the location of their real estate in the simplest and fastest way possible” and reinforcement offices will be opened in the municipalities concerned which “will support the work of local officials” when necessary it is about serving citizens and speeding up all bureaucratic procedures.
