The Balearic government has begun to demand the repayment of aid from businesses in the region that was granted to cover losses caused by the pandemic. These repayments are for cases where it has been decided that subsidies had not been adequately justified.
This is the next step in a process that the previous government began after the elections in May last year and when it was then operating in an acting capacity. An exhaustive review of the aid that was granted almost three years ago was initiated. Since then, businesses have been contacted and asked to present documentation to prove that the aid had been justified.
In May 2021, the regional ministries of finance and the economic model approved the distribution of aid to businesses that requested it. In total, this amounted to 855 million euros, the funding having been provided by the Spanish government. The Balearics and the Canaries were the only two regions to distribute 100% of their allocations.
Letters from the government's business directorate demanding the return of aid started to be sent shortly before Christmas. This caused outrage among the businesses involved and at the College of Auditors. The college had previously described the government's review as "a nonsense".
In November, the college sent a letter to the business minister, Alejandro Sáenz de San Pedro, expressing its "disappointment" with the reviews and asked him to halt the processing of refunds until the situation was studied by a mixed commission to include representatives of the auditors themselves.
The college highlighted its "astonishment at certain stances adopted by the current business directorate". It stated its "total opposition" to the audit of aid, which had the consensus of all bodies who participated in drawing up the decree law that approved the spending in May 2021.
In addition, the college emphasised the unique and unusual nature of the situation that was experienced because of the pandemic. This created difficulties due to there having been "hardly any legal background" for interpreting financial facts.
Anger has been increasing over recent weeks. On Friday, a meeting of auditors was held to discuss a common strategy to follow in the conflict. Also on Friday, the minister contacted the auditors to convey his commitment to sit down and study the issue jointly.
* The aid package from the Spanish government was originally 1,000 million euros; it was subsequently reduced to 855 million.