The Council of Ministers has declared areas seriously affected by a civil protection emergency (ZAEPC) the territories affected by these catastrophic episodes, which caused personal damage, infrastructure and public and private property, as well as damage to forest, agricultural crops and farms, industrial estates and other productive facilities of such magnitude that they justify the approval of State aid based on the principle of interterritorial solidarity and with a subsidiary and complementary character to the actions that, in the exercise of their powers, are entrusted to the territorial administrations.
Among the civil protection emergencies included are the floods suffered on June 21, 2023 in La Rioja.
Direct aids
Law 17/2015, of 9 July, on the National Civil Protection System, establishes an open list of measures and aid that, when an emergency occurs whose magnitude requires the intervention of the General Administration of the State for its recovery, can be applied without the need to have an assessment of damages, in view of the information available, in those cases in which it is evident that those affected have suffered and, to a large extent, continue to suffer the effects of the adverse phenomena considered.
The recovery measures provided for in this agreement, the implementation of which is the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior, are as follows:
· Aid for death or for absolute and permanent incapacity: 18,000 euros.
· Aid for destruction or damage to basic necessities: the cost with a limit of 2,580 euros.
· Aid for total destruction of the habitual dwelling: the cost of damages, with a maximum of 15,120 euros.
· Aid for damages to the structure of the habitual dwelling: 50% of the damages, with a maximum of 10.320 euros.
· Aid for other damages in the usual housing: 50% of the damages, with a maximum of 5,160 euros.
· Aid for damages to common elements of a community of owners: 50% of the damages, with a maximum of 9,224 euros.
· Aid to natural or legal persons who have carried out personal and property benefits: the total amount of the expenses.
· Aid for holders of industrial, commercial and service establishments, including agricultural, sea-fishing and tourism establishments: up to 9,224 euros.
· Aid to local corporations for expenses derived from unpostponable actions: between 50% and 100%, depending on the case.
· The agreement also provides for the possibility of approving an exemption from the Autonomous Agency Central Traffic Headquarters fees for duplicates of circulation or driving licences, as well as casualty vehicle casualties.
Other measures
The agreement approved by the Council of Ministers opens the possibility of adopting other aid measures, subject to the provisions of the ministerial orders issued by each of the different departments competent to develop them:
· Tax benefits: the Ministry of Finance will specify the exemption in the Tax on Real Property and the reduction in the Tax on Economic Activities that correspond to the recipients of this aid, which as usual will be exempt from the Tax on the Income of Natural Persons the aid for personal damages.
Labor and Social Security Measures: the ministries of Labor and Social Economy and of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration may develop labor and Social Security measures such as bonuses and exemptions from Social Security quotas.
· Aid to local corporations: the Ministry of Territorial Policy will grant aid, up to 50%, to projects implemented by local entities to repair municipal infrastructure, facilities and equipment.
· Damage to public infrastructures and the public domain: the remaining ministries, within the scope of their competences, may declare a special area of action, as well as the emergency of the works, to repair the damage caused to infrastructures of public ownership or in the public domain.