The Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, has updated the data of the contribution of the Government of Spain from the eruption of the volcano to this moment, with 1,237.5 million euros in total. “Although we must continue working for the definitive recovery of the island, knowing that many dreams of palm trees and palm trees will not be recovered, we can say that the aid provided by the Government of Spain represents almost 72% of the public money mobilized on the island,” according to data from the Commissioner for the reconstruction of La Palma and the General Intervention services, “which are public, transparent and verifiable data.”

Torres has highlighted the 53.7 million euros contributed by the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory for the reconstruction of municipal infrastructures; 58.1 million from the Ministry of the Interior; 108.9 million from Ecological Transition; 33.5 million from Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; 240.7 million in aid to companies or the Insurance Consortium; 135 million for the specific employment plans of La Palma; 56.2 million from Transport; or 478.5 million from direct aid or fiscal measures promoted by the Treasury.

These are updated figures shared today by the minister in his appearance in the Congress of Deputies to defend and request the validation of Royal Decree-Law 13/2025, of November 25, which adopts new urgent complementary measures for the economic and social recovery of the island of La Palma after the damage caused by the volcanic eruptions.

Torres recalled that this Royal Decree-Law “is another example of the high compliance of the investiture and legislative agreement signed on the Canary Islands Agenda”, whose commitments have been developed with ordinary transfers and also with the approval of this Royal Decree-Law, moving to the legislative framework, exclusively for the affairs of the island of La Palma, those aspects that needed regulatory approval in 2025. “We respect and comply with what we signed for this legislature”, he stressed, at the same time as he has advanced that in the coming dates new transfers will be approved to achieve more objectives of the Canarian Agenda.

Measures contemplated in the Royal Decree-Law

Torres explained in his appearance the four main measures developed by the Royal Decree-Law:

1) Bonus of 60% of the IRPF, which represents that 111 million euros remain in the palm families.

2) Moratorium on the payment of principal and the interest of farmers who owe loans and credits with and without mortgage guarantee in the municipalities of El Paso, Los Llanos de Aridane and Tazacorte.

3) Extension of grants from the Ministry of Ecological Transition that were regulated in article 46 of Royal Decree-Law 20/2021, so that the Government of the Canary Islands and the Cabildo de La Palma can implement the projects of the nurseries in Puntallana, a new building of the PLOCAN in Tazacorte and the hotel Escuela Monterrey in El Paso.

4) Use of the surplus in the amount of EUR 100 million for, as set out in the second paragraph of the RDL Explanatory Statement, “to finance aid for natural persons and entities affected by the volcanic eruption of the island of La Palma, mainly damage to agricultural properties and compensation for the construction of infrastructure on properties expropriated or damaged by volcanic flows.”

In this fourth point, the minister has detailed that the Ministry of Finance thus allows, with a single action, the Government of the Canary Islands to use the surplus to fundamentally mitigate the loss of income and damage to farmers, with a measure that allows exceptionally to allocate 100 million euros surplus to an issue that is not a financially sustainable investment.

“Exemplary” inter-administrative collaboration

Torres recalled that since the eruption, in September 2021, there has been “exemplary” inter-administrative collaboration that allowed for no fatalities at the time of the emergency as a direct result of the eruption; for it to be a case of success in science, prevention and accountability; and for socio-economic recovery to have advanced with increasingly positive indicators.

The minister has valued the effort together with the Canary Islands administrations in the activation of resources and mechanisms for recovery, and stressed that “from the Government of Spain we will always maintain the predisposition and institutional dialogue for the improvement of the life of palm trees and palm trees”.