Aid package expanded to €340m

THE Valencia regional government has announced it will increase its Covid-19 aid package to €340 million and include the long-suffering tourism industry following appeals from hotel associations.

President Ximo Puig announced the measure today (Monday); intended to be a lifeline for companies and self-employed his hardest by the pandemic and the emergency health restrictions.

And the goal is to assist 21,000 companies and 43,000 self-employed people hit hardest by the crisis whose ‘business is hanging by a thread’.

The initial package was for €127 million and as well as the regional government, it is being finance by provincial authorities and town halls.
The new aid is aimed at defraying the cost of social security for both companies and self-employed workers and is bolstered by direct subsidies for self-employed people, the hospitality industry, and supplements for staff laid off under the ERTE scheme.

In addition, the IVF, the Valencia institute of finance, is to make €100 million in loans available under special terms to the sectors worst hit by a downturn in income.