Employers in the Balearics are complaining about the delays to distributing funds to businesses affected by the pandemic.
Of an 11,000 million euro fund established by the Spanish government, the Balearics received 855 million euros. Following confirmation of the receipt of this funding in March, the Balearic government set in motion a system of requesting aid. The first payments were made at the end of July.
The business community naturally welcomed the availability of these funds. From the outset, speed in making payments was demanded. The president of the CAEB Confederation of Balearic Business Associations, Carmen Planas, explains that this promised aid was in response to the enormous financial losses caused by the pandemic and the restrictions on activity. She says that businesses can now not understand all the bureaucracy. This is "sinking" companies and the self-employed.
The regional government insists that payments are being made within the "expected deadlines" and notes that Balearics was one of the first regions to pay aid from the state fund.
But there is dissatisfaction with the established schedule. Planas adds that "the vast majority of companies and self-employed that the CAEB represents have submitted all the required documentation and do not understand why the processing of aid is taking so long". The delay, she stresses, is "totally unjustified" and points to deadlines for August not having been met. "Help that arrives late is useless."