Background information

The tourism value chain is one of the economic activities most affected by the current health crisis. Spain is the world leader in tourism, a sector that represents 12.4% of its GDP and accounts for 13.7% of affiliation with Social Security. In terms of visitors, in the January-October period there has been a fall of more than 76% compared to the same period of 2019, and tourist spending has fallen in a similar way, 75.9% compared to the same period of the year previous. These falls in the arrival of tourists have a profound effect on the hotel, air transport and discretionary bus transport sectors.

The Council of Ministers has approved a Stimulus Plan for hospitality, tourism and commerce with new measures that aim to alleviate the situation of companies and freelancers related to these activities and address their fixed costs such as salaries, leases or payment of taxes, among others, to allow them to maintain their viability and not be forced to close as a consequence of the pandemic.

Content of measure

The measures contained in the Plan are divided into five large blocks:

• Block 1.- Measures aimed at the leasing of business premises, including a reduction in the rent payment of up to 50%, and a moratorium
• Block 2.- Liquidity and solvency measures, including the extension of the lack of loans guaranteed by the ICO lines, and the creation of a new ICO line
• Block 3.- Tax measures, including deferral of tax debts for 6 months, with 3 without interest, and a reduction in taxation by the module system in personal income tax of up to 35%
• Block 4.- Labor and Social Security measures, including the postponement in the payment of Social Security contributions and a 50% discount on Social Security contributions for the hiring of discontinuous fixed lines from April to October 2021
• Block 5.- Regulatory measures. The requirements for maintaining regional incentives are made more flexible. Regional incentives are financial aid granted by the Government to productive investment to promote business activity, orienting its location towards specific areas

Use of measure

No information available.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Applies to all workers	Sector specific set of companies	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Company / Companies	National funds Regional funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	No involvement
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

No involvement was reported.

Views and reactions

Both trade unions and employers have welcomed the plan, as the tourism and commerce sectors and key for the Spanish economy and have been severely damaged by the COVID-19 crisis.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 23 December 2020: Royal Decree-Law 35/2020, of December 22, on urgent measures to support the tourism, hospitality and trade sectors and in tax matters (www.boe.es)