The Calp Town Council, through a grant from the Alicante Provincial Council, has created a new line of assistance for businesses run by women and for businesses not older than three years affected by the COVID 19 crisis. The first approval of this aid will be debated during the ordinary July plenary session, which will take place next Monday 13 July.
A subsidy of 83,847 euros, granted by the Provincial Council, will be allocated to this aid in order to minimise the economic impact of the pandemic on SMEs, micro-enterprises and the self-employed. This is the third line of assistance provided by the Calp Town Council, after direct aid to local businesses and the subsidisation of the refuse collection levy, which is part of the resistance plan, with the aim of boosting economic activity in the municipality.
In this case, "we wanted to focus on women-led business and promote the stabilization of those businesses that are less than three years old and affected by this exceptional situation caused by COVID-19; we want to avoid irreversible economic and social consequences for the residents of the community and thus be able to revive the local economy," said Calp Mayor Ana Sala.
The aid covers both current expenses (rent of premises, consultancy costs incurred as a result of the alarm situation, electricity, water, telephone, etc.) and investment expenditure (repayment of loans for the purchase of premises and commercial vehicles).
Grants will be awarded for 100 % of the total eligible items, excluding indirect taxes, duly paid, up to a maximum amount of EUR 600 per application.
To be eligible for this aid, these self-employed persons, micro or small enterprises must be active in the Calp area and be registered with the relevant special scheme for self-employed persons or mutual associations or with the general social security and tax authorities on 14 March 2020. They must also have suspended their activity as a result of the state of alert or, if they have maintained it, have reduced their turnover for the month of April 2020 by at least 50 per cent compared to the turnover of the six months preceding the declaration of the state of alert.
An amendment will also be tabled in plenary to ensure that both these subsidies and the others implemented by the City Council are compatible with the subsidies granted by other administrations or public or private bodies, be it the State, the European Union or international organisations, with the exception of the subsidies granted by the Generalitat Valenciana to self-employed people.