• Congress gives the green light to the fourth package of measures for recovery after the DANA of 2024, a plan mobilizing billions in financing, aid and climate prevention
The Plenary Session of the Congress of Deputies validated on Thursday, with 307 votes in favor, 33 against and 7 abstentions, the Royal Decree-law for urgent measures for recovery, reinforcement and prevention of the damages caused by the DANA. This is the fourth package of actions and investment aimed at accelerating the recovery of the municipalities affected and reinforce the country’s response capacity before future climate emergencies.
The Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, Félix Bolaños, defended the text before the Chamber and thanked the parliamentary groups for their majority support. Bolaños recalled the Government’s three-phase plan to assist those affected by the DANA, and pointed out that, during this third stage, the Administration has promoted a new set of measures to accelerate and simplify aid procedures and extend protection to companies and the self-employed.
Economic, industrial and tourist measures
In relation to economic measures, the Royal Decree-law establishes new ICO PRTR loans - 750 million euros, with 180 million in aid for SMEs, as well as the possibility to enforce State guarantees for a maximum value of 5,000 million euros up to 2040. The Minister underlined that these tools help “protect companies, the self-employed and families when they need it the most”.
To recover the industrial and tourism activities, the PERTE Naval deadlines have been extended to June 2026 in order to compensate for the lack of machinery and supplies, technical adjustments have been incorporated in the PERTE VEC (a sector representing 24% of exports in Valencia), and the mechanism REINICIA+ FEPYME DANA has been redirected to be able to mobilize up to 300 million euros seamlessly for this type of contingencies.
Social Security Aid
As for Social Security, the regulation reinforces social protection and extends to 31 December, 2025 the benefits for cessation of business of the self-employed affected by the DANA, with retroactive effect from February. Likewise, contributions may be deferred at a very reduced interest rate of 0.5%.
The Decree will also devote over one million euros to the cultural sector, with aid for the project “Salvem les Fotos”, which will help restore up to half a million family pictures, as well as for entities programming activities to recover the artistic and cultural undertakings in the municipalities affected.
Furthermore, over 60 million euros shall be invested in resilience actions against floods in several locations of the Comunitat Valenciana, Castilla-La Mancha and Andalucía. All of this together with other direct support measures for the population, such as the Reinicia Auto+ Plan, solutions for the final de-registration of damaged or missing vehicles, and easing of grants for books and school supplies.
A total investment of 8,000 million euros
In the words of the Minister, the Comunitat Valenciana has experienced the worst tragedy in its history, and this requires the greatest institutional, economic and social efforts ever deployed. To this end, the Government has mobilized, to date, up to nearly 8,000 million euros in aid. This includes the close to 4,000 million from the Insurance Consortium, 2,183 million for infrastructures and 247 million for the agricultural sector, among other key lines.
Although there have been irreparable losses, the Minister insisted that everything that can be recovered must be rebuilt to reinforce citizen trust.
