The government approves a global response plan of 10.6 billion euros, in response to the consequences of DANA. The package of measures, which will be expanded over the weeks, includes direct aid to citizens and businesses, which will be deployed with “the least possible paperwork and the greatest possible agility”. As confirmed by the head of executive, Pedro Sánchez, Moncloa will quadruple the planned public aid, which will be universal and will reach all households without taking into account income thresholds. A line of guarantees managed by the ICO of 5,000 million euros will also be deployed available to businesses and citizens. All measurements will be available and specified on the La Moncloa website.
The plan, which will be developed during the next phases of action, includes assistance that could request from this Tuesday. Concretely, the Government will transfer up to 72,000 euros for cases of disability, between 20,000 and 60,000 euros for home repairs, 10,300 euros to change or repair furniture damaged by DANA, or 37,000 euros per community neighborhood, and which will be intended to repair common property. areas such as doors or elevators.
In addition, Moncloa will transfer direct aid to companies and self-employed people with their tax domicile in the areas concerned, worth 838 million euros. In detail, between 10,000 and 150,000 euros will be paid per company depending on its volume of operations. “To receive them, you just have to indicate the account number and they will start being billed in less than 30 days,” explained Sánchez. The government expects that some 75,000 self-employed workers and 30,000 businesses – mainly SMEs – will benefit.
5,000 million ICO loan line
The aid network will be compensated by the creation of a line of guarantees of up to 5 billion euros, which will be managed by the ICO, and which will be aimed at SMEs, the self-employed, but also to households, a novelty that will not include the mechanism that was also deployed during the pandemic. The candidates They will be able to access this financing via their bankand the credits will benefit from the government guarantee, they will therefore have more favorable conditions than those accessed by individuals.
The objective of these loans will be to re-equip businesses, reopen businesses or repair homes. The President of the Government confirmed that applications could begin next week. The mechanism will deploy an initial financing line of 1,000 million which will be increased to 5,000 million. “This is an amount similar to what businesses in the Valencian Community need during the Covid crisis,” said Sánchez.
Tax exemptions and moratoriums
The package of measures includes a battery of tax exemptions and moratoriums. Those affected by DANA will be able to delay the second payment of personal income tax to 2025, in the event of return of the declaration. This extension will be extended to any other tax that the taxpayer has pending with the Tax Agency. Also Payment of property tax (IBI) and other fees is suspended related to vehicle tax.
In addition, the government managed to reach an agreement with banking entities, which will freeze the payment of installments of loans acquired during the first three months, and the payment of interest on these credits during the following nine months. month. This way, Those affected will not have to pay their mortgage for the first three months since the outbreak of the crisis. “Total relief for one year which would benefit 30,000 businesses and thousands of households,” explained the director general.
work shield
Added to this are labor protection measures. Temporary employment regulation (ERTE) files due to temporary force majeure are due to a shutdown of the company’s activity caused by the impact of DANA. Companies will benefit from a 100% reduction on the payment of social contributions, on an extraordinary and one-off basis, at least until March 2025. Within the framework of these ERTEs, companies are prohibited from laying off workers or outsourcing of jobs. Thus, the government wants to protect the workforce through direct subsidies with public money.
The self-employed will be able to benefit from cessations of activity in a more flexible way: Social Security removes the obligation for a contribution period of at least 12 months. Self-employed workers will benefit from direct aid equivalent to 70% of the regulatory base and will be exempt from paying social security contributions.
The Department of Inclusion and Social Security itself creates extraordinary temporary disability for people psychologically or physically affected by DANA, guaranteed 75% of your salary. People at risk of exclusion due to their income level will see minimum subsistence income support and other non-contributory benefits from the Valencian Community improved: “They will benefit from an improvement of 15% for three months, with the possibility of extending the measurement. depending on progress,” assured the president.
Compensation and aid to municipalities
The response plan also includes financial support for municipalities affected by DANA. The Government will pay 100% of emergency expenses incurred by these municipalities. This is the cost derived from all these actions related to cleaning the streets, housing residents, etc. In addition, the state will be responsible for up to 50% of all work carried out to repair infrastructure, roads, sports centers and other facilities. The Government will also compensate for taxes that local companies will no longer collect.
To guarantee agility in the development of the plan, Sánchez announced the strengthening of courts and notary teams. An emergency portal will be created so that citizens can certify the location of their properties, and reinforcement offices will be opened in the municipalities concerned, to handle and resolve any questions regarding aid and measures. “Municipalities know reality better than anyone,” insisted the president.
All these measures are part of the first of three phases of action. Sánchez announced that after the first line of action (the one announced today), there would be two more, dedicated exclusively to the reconstruction and recovery of the Valencian Community and the rest of the affected regions.
Reinforcement of troops
The Director General recalled the progress made over the past 72 hours. Over the past three days, the number of soldiers, police and civil guards deployed increased from 7,200 to 14,898 soldiers. Added to them are 287 forestry brigades, 100 customs agents, 44 forensic doctors and 600 vehicles and pumping and cleaning equipment. To date, 1,300 new rescues have been carried out and 18,500 food rations and 95,000 liters of bottled water have been distributed.
Over the past 72 hours, technicians have managed to restore power to 98% of affected homes and 68% of damaged telephone lines. In addition, 40 kilometers of roads and 74 kilometers of railways were repaired.
