Pedro Sanchez has submitted the response of Government of Spain for those affected by the DANA. The financial aid will be included within the framework of the ‘Immediate response plan for the reconstruction and relaunch of the Valencian Community’. These will be the three phases that the President of the Government has explained and he is finally committed to a transformation “to adapt the territory to the climate emergency that is affecting the Mediterranean Sea.” And he continues to assure that “it will last as long as necessary to recover normality in the affected territory.” In total, the first package of measures, approved today by the Council of Ministers, has a total cost of 10.6 billion euros.
The measures are numerous and will be known in more detail, but Sánchez wanted to relate, in a generic way, some of them:
- direct aid to citizens and companies affected as in the pandemic with as little paperwork as possible and as quickly as possible. To this end, the public aid provided for in the Royal Decree 307 and make them universal, so that all affected households can reach them without income thresholds.
- Transfers up to 72,000 euros in case of disability between 20,000 and 60,000 for the repair of damaged homes and up to 10,300 euros to change or repair furniture, appliances or affected and lost belongings. And up to 37,000 to repair elements of the neighborhood communities such as doorways or elevators.
- In addition, it transfers direct aid to small and medium-sized companies and the self-employed with tax domicile in the areas affected by DANA for a value of 838 million euros. They will range between 10,000 and 150,000 euros for companies depending on their volume of operations. For receive aid It will be enough to indicate the bank account number and they will begin to be charged in less than 30 days. They estimate that 65,000 workers and 30,000 companies will benefit.
- The extraordinary temporary disability For all people affected or damaged physically or psychologically by the tragedy, 75% of their salary will be guaranteed from the first day of disability.
- Those affected self-employed workers have been enabled to request a benefit for cessation of activity that will correspond to 70% of the contribution base even if they do not meet the minimum 12 months required.
- The people who receive the IMV or non-contributory benefit will be increased by a further 15% over the next 3 months. And there will be a possibility of extending the measure depending on how the situation progresses.
- Lastly, the Insurance Compensation Consortium will begin to pay tomorrow, 7 days after the climate emergency, the first compensation to those families and companies that have lost their vehicle. They will be 20% higher than the appraisal value of each vehicle.
- The line is created DANA endorsements worth 5,000 million euros. It will be managed by the Government of Spain, the ICO, and will allow small and medium-sized businesses, the self-employed and households, as a novelty, to access credits through their bank with the guarantee of the Government of Spain. To reequip companies, open businesses or repair homes as soon as possible.
- package moratoriums and tax exemption. The IBI will not be paid, the personal income tax is deferred and the vehicle tax will not be paid. Additionally, the affected companies that suspend the activity of workers with an ERTE will be exempt from paying 100% of the social security contributions of their workers at least until February 2025. After an agreement with the financial entities, those who have an ERTE mortgage or consumer loan may postpone the full payment of the loans for three months and pay only the interest for an additional nine months. “An important relief for families.”
- Measures to strengthen the financial and human resources of the affected town councils. The Government of Spain will pay 100% of the emergency expenses for DANA. The removal of mud, debris, household goods, drinking water supply, street cleaning, accommodation and maintenance of affected residents is financed. In addition, up to 50% of all the works that have to be carried out in the coming months and years will be paid to repair facilities and infrastructure such as roads or cultural centers. They will also be compensated for the municipal taxes that they will no longer receive and we will expand their spending possibilities.
Economic, labor and tax aid
Thus the Council of Ministers approved this Tuesday a package of economic, labor and tax aidtogether with the declaration of severely affected area for one emergency of Civil Protection for those places in the Valencian Community, Castilla-La Mancha, Andalusia, Catalonia and Aragon that have been hardest hit by DANA.
Fiscal measures
The package of economic measures will include several actions in tax matters. The Treasury has already announced that it will suspend the collection of the second personal income tax payment corresponding to the 2023 Income for taxpayers in the province of Valencia, the area most punished by DANA. This measure will affect 200,000 taxpayers for whom the declaration was due and chose to pay their obligations in two payments, the second of which was made this Tuesday, November 5.
The measure will be included in a rule in which it will be established that the charges to taxpayers from the province of Valencia who had to pay the declaration corresponding to 2023 and chose to pay their obligations in two payments.
In the event that the banks have already carried out this operation, the text will also contemplate the return in the shortest possible period. The Government also manages other actions in the fiscal field, similar to those implemented for those affected by the eruption of the volcano in La Palma, such as the exemption from the payment of the IBI and the postponement of the payment of other taxes.
ERTE and benefit for cessation of activity for the self-employed
In matters of Social securitythe Ministry has announced that self-employed workers affected by DANA will be able to request the benefit for cessation of activity due to force majeure retroactively without needing to have the usual minimum contribution of 12 months.
This special situation also contemplates that the days of benefit consumed are not computed for future situations, which is called a zero counter. Furthermore, this period will be counted as contributions. The amount of the benefit reaches 70% of the regulatory base.
Social Security remembers that, since the labor reform, it is possible to protect workers and the productive fabric in crisis and emergency situations such as the DANA through an ERTE due to force majeure, the company may temporarily suspend the employment relationship or reduce the working day.
This measure has a 100% exemption of the Social Security contributions of companies and workers and any worker can benefit without consuming the unemployment benefit. It is requested at the SEPE or by calling 060.
Compensation and mortgage moratoriums
The Ministry of Economy already anticipates that the first payments from insurers to those affected by DANA will arrive at the end of this week. In just five days, 46,000 requests for compensation have been registered and more than 400 experts have been deployed in the affected area.
For now, the Insurance Compensation Consortium The Ministry of Economy is processing 18,000 requests for compensation from those affected by DANA, which represents close to 40% of requests.
Furthermore, the banking sector is preparing a three month moratorium expandable for loans to individuals, the self-employed and small businesses, a proposal has been sent to the Minister of Economy for legal articulation. The bank is also in contact with the Official Credit Institute (ICO) to outline other measures to support the victims.
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