Almost two thousand companies and self-employed of the Pitiusas (1.735 in Ibiza and 201 in Formentera) have benefited from state aid for Covid, with 855.7 million euros to be distributed among the 11,939 applications registered in the Balearic Islands (8,994 in Mallorca and 983 in Menorca). The president of the Balearic Government, Francina Armengol, said yesterday after presenting the data of the call, whose application period ended on Monday, that it is “a historic line of aid” for “the amount” of money to be distributed. She also stressed that the 855.7 million will remain in the Balearic Islands and that, once the aid is distributed among applicants, while funds remain, it will continue to be distributed among companies that have justified more debt or drop in income.
The president appeals to “responsibility” to curb the incidence “very high” incidence of Covid on the islands
Line 1 of the aid, aimed at self-employed and companies that pay income tax modules, involves a fixed payment of 3,000 euros, an amount that is expected to be paid this month. There are 371 applicants on Ibiza and 63 on Formentera. Those in line 2, who will receive between 4,000 and 500,000 euros, are entrepreneurs and freelancers who must justify a drop in income of more than 30%. In this case, the payment will be delayed until the end of August, according to the Govern’s forecast, because the State Tax Agency must confirm the percentage of the applicants’ drop in turnover. In Ibiza, 1,344 applications have been made for this type of aid, and 138 in Formentera. The amount that each applicant will receive will vary according to the accredited losses, which is why, according to the councillor of Economic Model, Iago Negueruela, “it is not possible to make an average”.
6,666 possible applications
Initially, the Govern estimated that 1,630 companies and 5,036 self-employed workers on Ibiza could benefit from this aid, but the number of applications stands at 29% of the estimated total. Negueruela explained that “there are not fewer companies than expected” because the initial estimate was based “on one hundred percent of the companies and self-employed workers who could apply for aid, without taking into account those whose turnover may have fallen by more than 30%”, the main requirement to be eligible for this state aid.
The 3,000 euro subsidies for those who pay module tax will be paid this month and the rest will have to wait until the end of August.
In the specific case of Ibiza, the councillor stressed that the fact that “a third” of the island’s companies and self-employed workers have applied for this aid is “a very high percentage”. “It gives us an idea of the magnitude of the fall [in business activity] that has occurred. It is very high. It doesn’t happen in any other part of the mainland,” he said.
For her part, President Armengol pointed out that on 23 June there were 5,202 applications for aid in the Balearic Islands and that, following the changes agreed at the Social Dialogue Round Table (including extending the call for applications to all business sectors and extending the deadline by two weeks), the number of applications more than doubled to 11,939.
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