The latest survey by the National Federation of Self-Employed Workers Associations indicates that 72% of the self-employed would consider closing their businesses or reducing their workforces in the event of a new lockdown.
The federation suggests that there is a more pessimistic view since the closure of the nightlife sector and the adoption of other Covid-related measures. Twenty per cent of the self-employed believe that a new confinement would result in the definitive closure of their business; this is up four per cent since the last survey. A further 35% say that closure could happen, while sixteen per cent state that they will cut staff in order to continue.
The federation's president, Lorenzo Amor, is stressing the "emergency situation" in which the self-employed find themselves and has therefore sent an "SOS" to the Spanish government. "It is necessary to implement measures that save the activities of the self-employed, their businesses and the jobs they create. With each passing day the situation for the majority of the self-employed is deteriorating further. We face an extraordinary challenge for which extraordinary measures are needed."
The survey shows that almost 80% of the self-employed have seen their turnover decrease compared with the previous year, while ten per cent say that it has stayed the same. Under five per cent reckon that turnover has increased.
The federation points out that around 14% of the self-employed are generating no income, while for those who have seen their income go down, 57% say that the reduction has been by 60% or more. As to the government's cessation of activity benefit, the federation insists that this has been a failure. The benefit could be requested from July 1, but it is something "which has nothing to do with the real context of self-employed activity". "Only five per cent have requested it, and only four per cent of this total has been granted, mainly due to not having been able to prove the minimum contribution period."