Economic and labor aid to cope with the COVID-19 crisis

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. A 300 million euro Extraordinary Social Fund is created to fund social services, such as home care and telecare, and local governments can use their 2019 budget surplus for social spending.
2. For one month, electricity, gas and water cannot be cut off to vulnerable consumers, the electricity discount (bono socialBono social Discount on the electricity bill for low-income households.) is extended until September 15, 2020, and bottled gas prices are frozen.
3. Workers with dependents can adapt their schedule or reduce their working hours, even up to 100%, with a proportional salary cut, and remote work takes priority over suspending business activity.
4. People who struggle to pay the mortgage on their main home because of the crisis can request a moratorium: mortgage payments are suspended and no interest accrues during that period.
5. Self-employed workers who suspend their activity or lose at least 75% of their billing receive an extraordinary benefit for business closure, set at 70% of their contribution base, for one month.
6. Losses of activity caused by COVID-19 count as force majeure for suspending contracts or reducing hours, affected workers get unemployment benefits even without enough contributions, and that time does not use up their future entitlement.
7. The State approves a guarantee line of up to €100 billion for loans to companies and the self-employed, and increases the ICO's borrowing capacity by €10 billion to provide liquidity.
8. While the state of alarm lasts, phone and internet providers cannot cut contracted services, number porting is suspended, and deadlines for returning purchased products are interrupted.

Who it affects

• Vulnerable consumers: Cannot have their electricity, gas or water cut off for a month, even if they have not paid.
• Employees with family care duties: Can adapt or reduce their working hours to care for dependents without losing their job.
• Mortgage debtors in difficulty: Can request a moratorium to temporarily stop paying the mortgage on their main home.
• Self-employed workers: Receive an extraordinary benefit if they close their business or lose most of their billing.
• Companies and SMEs: Get access to State guarantees and ICO funding, and pay lower social security contributions if they suspend contracts due to force majeure.

Words worth knowing

ERTE

Temporary layoff procedure in Spain: the company temporarily suspends contracts or reduces working hours.

Bono social

Discount on the electricity bill for low-income households.

Moratoria (moratorium)

Permission to postpone payment of a debt for a period of time.

IPREM

A public income reference index in Spain used to calculate eligibility for aid.

Fuerza mayor (force majeure)

An extraordinary, unforeseeable cause that justifies suspending contracts or activities without anyone being at fault.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries