Farmers and stockbreeders affected by the DANA will receive direct aid without the need for prior application

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, together with the members of the crisis committee (Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa)

Abati explained that the goals of the measures adopted for the primary sector are the "economic and social normalisation of the affected areas; to avoid the abandonment of farms and facilitate their relaunching; and to support food distribution and local food trade given the deterioration of logistical distribution channels".

He also announced that the farmers and stockbreeders affected by the DANA will receive the direct aid approved by the Government in their accounts without the need to process an application and after an assessment of the damage. "The farmers affected do not have to worry about sending an application or doing anything for the direct aid. We are not going to ask for any paperwork. Instead we will grant the aid ex officio, which is expected to take approximately three months," he said. The farms eligible for this aid must be located in one of the 112 municipalities listed in the Royal Decree-Laws approved to support those affected by the floods at the end of October.

This direct aid will have a budget of €200 million and is part of an overall package of €444.5 million to help farmers and stockbreeders affected by the DANA. With this aid, the government aims to return the agricultural sector to normal production as soon as possible, as well as to provide economic and social support to farmers and stockbreeders.

The Undersecretary of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Ernesto Abati, during his appearance after the meeting of the crisis committee

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Agroseguro have signed an agreement to speed up the process as much as possible and to assess damage quickly. To this end, 140 experts will work on the ground and with aerial images of the farms, with the aim that an initial list of beneficiaries of this aid will be available within 6 weeks. The Spanish Agricultural Guarantee Fund (FEGA), which depends on the Ministry, will be the entity in charge of managing this aid and paying the corresponding amounts.

All affected farms whose production losses are estimated by Agroseguro to be at least 40% will be entitled to this direct aid. For this purpose, Agroseguro's experts will contact the owners of the affected farms for the appraisal.

Rebuilding productive potential

In addition to direct aid, the government will allocate €170 million to repair damage to plots of land, rural roads, production structures and irrigation systems. The work will be entrusted to the public company Tragsa. This work will begin in approximately two weeks, during the month of December.

€10 million for the replacement of agricultural machinery is also included in the line of support for rebuilding productive potential. The ministerial order regulating the granting of this aid, as well as the requirements, will be published in December.

The government is also allocating €60 million to a line of support to facilitate access to financing for farmers and stockbreeders, through the DANA/ICO-MAPA-SAECA measure. This aid can be up to €100,000 of the principal capital and 100% of the loan guarantees. The call for applications for this line will be launched in January.

The package of measures approved by the Council of Ministers on Monday 11 for the agri-food sector is completed with an allocation of €4.5 million for the distribution of food to the population affected by the DANA and the normalisation of supply through wholesale, retail and local markets. This work is already being carried out through the public company Mercados Centrales de Abastecimientos (Mercasa).

Non official translation