First aid payments for businesses will be in 10 days time

The President of the Canary Islands Government, Ángel Víctor Torres, described yesterday as "very good news" that the Ministries of Finance and Economy have granted more flexibility to the autonomous communities in the management and in the criteria for the distribution of national funds to support businesses, included in Royal Decree Law 5/2021, and with which the Islands will receive 1.14 billion euros of the 7 billion which has been activated for this purpose throughout the country.

In line with what he expressed in the plenary session of Parliament on Tuesday, Torres referred to the continuous contacts that have taken place from various areas of the quadripartite with the central Government, to transfer the unique situation of the Canary Islands and make the conditions in the processing of said aid more flexible. Torres cited SMEs and freelancers who had initially been left out, such as hairdressers in tourist areas, driving schools, training centres, as well as lawyers, accountants and other professions.

Torres explained that there have been conversations in his recent trips to Madrid and negotiations such as on March 24th, when the Secretary of State for the Economy was informed of the need to take into account the specificities of the Canary Islands. Subsequently, on March 29th, those responsible for the Ministry of Economy of the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands met with the team of the second vice president, Nadia Calviño, to convey the greatest impact that the crisis is having on the island economies.

 On April 9th, the Canarian Minister of Economy, Elena Máñez, sent a letter to the Ministry to request the relaxation of the conditions and the expansion of the sectors to which the aid is being received. And on Thursday the commitment of Nadia Calviño to attend to the particularities of each autonomous community, and respond to the claims of the two archipelagos was recognised, and "which will have to be reflected in a modification of the royal decree law shortly," said the president. Torres appreciated that the demands have been met.

The Ministry of Finance has sent the completed agreements that regulate collaboration to implement direct aid for the self-employed and small and medium companies in the economic sectors most affected by the pandemic, to all of the autonomous communities.

The territorial distribution was approved on March 25th, with an allocation of 2 billion euros and for the Canary and the Balearic Islands, another endowed with 5 billion euros for the rest of the communities. In line with these agreements being sent out, it stipulates that the funds must be distributed after 10 days of receiving them.