Councils promise cash
Town halls will be responsible for distributing payments in their municipalities
Regional government transfers share of €100m funds to councils
BY Saturday, 167 municipalities had already confirmed their participation in the Valencia government’s Resistir aid plan, revealed regional president Ximo Puig.
More confirmations have been arriving steadily since and he said he hoped that all the town halls in the region will have confirmed by the deadline today (Friday).
The Paréntesis element of the plan entitles workers, selfemployed workers and microcompanies from the sectors most affected by the pandemic to a minimum of €2,000, in addition to €200 for each worker they have on contract.
This week the regional government started transferring to town halls its €100m share of the fund, with €36m being put up by the provincial governments and €24m by town halls. As soon as they receive this, town halls can start distributing the aid quickly according to regional government protocol that applies equally to all of them. The Plan Resistir encompasses almost €400m to support the sectors worst hit by the pandemic, workers on furlough (ERTE) and businesses whose viability is threatened.
The second element to be approved allocates €105m for businesses, self-employed people and workers in sectors such as hospitality, tourism and artistic, recreational and leisure activities.
This includes €80m to maintain more than 180,000 jobs, including 44,000 self-employed people and 22,000 businesses, with direct payments of €600 per worker up to a maximum of €12,000.
There is also €17m for payments of €300 to workers on
ERTE throughout January or February, to complement what they receive from social security. A third line includes €8m for 26,000 self-employed people who received the state aid from social security on December 31, who will receive two additional monthly payments of €150.
Another element consists of financing tools from the regional public bank (IVF), such as the Horeca line of credit for loans of which 30% does not have to be paid back; and the same amount in participative
loans. Finally there is another €15m for specific trades, such as artisans, taxi drivers and the leisure sector.
Councils comment
Guardamar del Segura town hall said it is contributing €117,134 of the €780,894 it will have for the aid. Councillor for economic promotion Gisela Teva said they will speed up the application process, cut down procedures and use all available means so that businesses receive the aid as soon as possible. In Torrevieja the council is stumping up €518,648, with the town receiving a total of €3,457,657. Councillor for employment Domingo Paredes noted that the cash is available for self-employed people and small businesses operating in the sectors identified by the decree. He said the council budget which they have proposed for 2021 ‘reserves a section for this type of aid’.
Alfaz del Pi has been allocated nearly €1.3 million. The council said they are responsible for the management of the grant and are working on ‘a detailed plan which will be published in due course, with steps of how to apply’. Calpe has a total of €1,545,222 and the council noted that grants are compatible with existing national, international, and European Union schemes.
In Jávea a council spokesman said: “We are aware the bureaucracy and complexity of the procedures involved sometimes put off those who are requesting aid. “For this reason, the need to create a specific office with council staff available to advise those who need the support has been taken into account from the beginning."