The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has announced that the Council of Ministers approved yesterday a first package of measures amounting to €10.6 billion, aimed at helping households, businesses, self-employed individuals, and municipalities in the 78 Valencian, Castilian-Manchegan, and Andalusian municipalities affected by the DANA. Specifically, the State will transfer up to €72,000 per deceased person and for cases of disability; between €20,000 and €60,000 for the repair of damaged homes; up to €10,300 to replace or repair furniture, appliances, and belongings; and up to €37,000 to repair elements of community buildings, such as entrances or elevators.
Additionally, direct aid will be transferred to SMEs and self-employed workers with a tax residence in the areas affected by the DANA, amounting to a total of €838 million. This aid will be €5,000 for self-employed individuals and will range between €10,000 and €150,000 for companies, depending on their volume of operations. To receive it, it will be sufficient to provide a bank account number, and payments will begin in less than a month, with an estimated number of beneficiaries being 65,000 self-employed workers and about 30,000 companies.
Self-employed individuals who have been affected will also have the option to apply for a cessation of activity benefit corresponding to 70% of their contribution base, even if they have not met the minimum requirement of 12 months mandated by law to access it. Furthermore, individuals already receiving the minimum vital income or non-contributory pension will see an increase of 15% over the next three months.
Meanwhile, the Insurance Compensation Consortium, under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business, will start disbursing the first compensations from tomorrow to those families and businesses that have lost their vehicles. These compensations will be 20% higher than the appraised value of each vehicle, and it is estimated that an unprecedented figure of €3.5 billion will be reached.
To complement this aid, the Council of Ministers has approved the creation of a DANA Guarantee Line worth €5 billion. This new line of guarantees will be managed by the Official Credit Institute (ICO) and will allow SMEs, companies, self-employed individuals, and, for the first time, households to access loans through their banks with the guarantee of the Government and under very favorable conditions.
