The Government announces aid of up to 70,300 euros to repair the homes of families affected by the DANA

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced this Tuesday the approval of the first package of economic measures for those affected by the DANA. In this way, aid of up to 70,300 euros per family unit has been approved to repair homes affected by the DANA through a royal decree law that was approved by the Council of Ministers.

This is the Immediate Response Plan for the Reconstruction and Relaunch of the Valencian Community, despite the fact that it includes all the territories affected by the natural disaster. This plan consists of three phases. The first consists of the immediate and urgent response to the DANA catastrophe ; the reconstruction of the affected areas and the relaunch phase and, therefore, the transformation necessary to adapt the territory to the climate emergency. The first package of measures, approved this Tuesday by the Council of Ministers, has a total cost of 10.6 billion euros.

It covers up to 78 municipalities (75 in the Valencian Community, 2 in Castilla-La Mancha and 1 in Andalusia) and quadruples the public aid provided for by law for death, disability, damage to property and housing, without income thresholds. The Spanish Government will transfer up to 72,000 euros for cases of disability. Between 20,000 and 60,000 euros for the repair of damaged homes. Up to 10,300 euros to change or repair furniture, appliances and property. And up to 37,000 euros to repair elements of the neighborhood communities.

Direct aid worth 838 million euros was also approved for SMEs and self-employed workers in the most severely affected areas. This aid will be 5,000 euros for the self-employed and will range between 10,000 and 150,000 euros for companies, depending on their turnover. To receive it, it will be enough to indicate the bank account number and they will start to be paid in less than a month, benefiting some 65,000 self-employed workers and some 30,000 companies.

The Government has also created a cessation of activity benefit for self-employed workers who must stop or suspend their work, which corresponds to 70% of the contribution base. They will be able to access the aid even if they have not completed the minimum contribution period required and without their benefits being reduced in the future.

The Council of Ministers also approved this Tuesday the declaration of a severely affected area, known as a catastrophic zone, due to a civil protection emergency for the territories most affected by the DANA. A declaration that serves to help receive the first package of urgent aid to the area.

This declaration is regulated by the National Civil Protection System and aims to strengthen the mechanisms of aid in case of emergency and catastrophes to facilitate the first fiscal and economic aid, such as those motivated by habitual residences, industrial and commercial establishments.

In addition, it also allows for the incorporation of subsidies for damages to municipal infrastructure, road networks, or agricultural and industrial production. The Treasury already gave the order to banks on Monday not to collect the second payment corresponding to the income tax return (IRPF) from taxpayers in areas affected by the DANA.