The Department of Commerce, led by Víctor Bernabéu, has authorised the first 368 of the municipal aid payments to the self-employed, SMEs and small-businesses of the municipality, after its approval by the Local Government Board. The total amount is 402,200 euros and corresponds to the first call for applicants made last September to which there were 462 responses.
Councillor Bernabéu said that it was necessary “to carry out a credit modification, due to the contribution of funds by other municipal areas to obtain a total of 400,000 euros plus the contribution of provincial funds”.
He said: “Once again I want to reiterate my thanks to my colleagues Rafael Almagro, Almudena Baldó, Víctor Valverde and Mariola Rocamora for their support, for understanding the importance of this aid and the need to make a gesture of support to our entrepreneurs and businessmen in the bad economic situation that we are suffering.”
The 94 applications that were left out of this first call, were found to have debts with the administration or had not correctly presented their claim. However, 24 of them have since benefited from a second opportunity, thanks to the opening of a new application period.
There have been 279 new applications submitted that are currently being processed. In order for the aid to reach everyone who needs it, the Department of Industry and Development contacted any possible beneficiaries informing them of the reasons that they did not comply and indicating the way to solve the issues. Hopefully, this means all of those requesting aid will receive it.
The purpose of the municipal aid programmes is to support the productive and social fabric of the Orihuela municipality. It aims to speed up the necessary compensation for the expenses incurred by the self-employed and SMEs as a consequence of the forced closure of their companies due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the months of April to May 2020.
The businesses benefitting from the financial help have all met the requirements. These include: having suspended activity as a result of the measures adopted by Royal Decree 463/2020, of 14th March, or in the event of continuing activity, having reduced billing by at least 50 percent for the months of April and May 2020. Businesses also had to prove that the activity affected by the closures has not been compensated by an increase in billing through an increase in the volume of online or telephone business.