SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 19 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The damage caused by the volcanic eruption in La Palma reached 982 million euros, according to the latest evaluation prepared by the Ministry of Finance, Budgets and European Affairs last March and sent to the Government of Spain in order to update the application for the activation of the EU Solidarity Fund.
The Canarian vice president and director of the area, Román Rodríguez, explained this Tuesday in Parliament that the Ministry of Finance collects the data offered by the Cabildo, the palm town councils, the insurance entities and a specialized consultant, and that, based on the evaluation carried out, some 24 million euros can be received.
This amount corresponds to 2.5% of the total damage caused, which is the percentage paid by the Solidarity Fund.
“This is a modest amount in relation to the damage caused by the eruption, but every euro counts,” said the vice president, who specified that the first submission of the report was made in a timely manner, according to the deadlines established in the mechanism itself. , and that the relevant updates will now be incorporated.
The amount that La Palma finally receives can only be used to repair public damages, since private damages are not provided for in the Fund, and to operational intervention expenses.
In any case, the vice president announced that both the Government of Spain and the autonomous Executive, the Cabido de La Palma and the municipalities will have to enable the precise budget items to repair public infrastructure and equipment, while the insurance companies must do their own with private properties.
Rodríguez added that these budgetary contributions will also be complemented by the ordinary funds that the European Union allocates to the Canary Islands, something that the regional Executive is already working on, according to a note from the Executive.
EXPAND THE FOCUS OF ACTION
Precisely, Rodríguez met this Tuesday with a representation of business organizations from La Palma in order to analyze a report prepared by businessmen with their requests in the short, medium and term for the repair and economic reactivation of the island.
The vice president explained that the core demand of the business community consists of expanding the measures that can be adopted by the public administrations to those affected located in municipalities other than the three directly damaged by the eruption, as well as studying fiscal relief and aid for these.
“Some of the proposals put forward are within the jurisdiction of the State, but we will study those that correspond to us to give the best possible response,” said Rodríguez, who recalled that the Ministry of Finance approved a very important tax reduction to just nine days after the eruption.
The important thing, he indicated, “is that we have on the table a set of proposals to study, some of which are already part of the measures adopted, but others we will analyze to perfect them.”
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Federation of Business Associations of La Palma (FAEP), the Federation of Business People of La Palma (Fedepalma), the Association of Fiscal Advisors of the Canary Islands and the Association of Commercial Graduates.
