The Spanish government will begin paying out aid immediately to those affected by the series of storms that let loose on Andalucía. The first payments will start in early March, as announced this Monday by deputy prime minister María Jesús Montero.

She confirmed “the first payment from the 7 billion-euro package of aid, approved by the Central Government to address the reconstruction efforts following the recent storms will begin in March”.

Montero noted the speed in which the socialist government had processed the aid. He asked Junta president Juanma Moreno to use the same speed when distributing public aid to those affected by storms, including individuals, small businesses and municipalities.

According to her, “the main thing is now the delivery of assistance and streamlining the entire procedure so that the application doesn’t become a burden for those who are affected”.

On Monday of this week, the minister visited Grazalema, in the province of Cadiz, which was the worst affected by the storms. Some 90 people have still not been able return to their homes.

Montero stated that regional aid offices would be opened in the city on Thursday to assist affected people with processing their aid applications.

As such, Grazalema will be the first municipality to benefit from the aid rollout, which will be handled via a total of 14 offices that will travel throughout Andalucía to support and facilitate all the necessary procedures for those affected.

This includes 60,000 euro to make severely damaged housing habitable again. Aid for agriculture is over 2.8 billion euro and includes 2100 direct grants which will be paid in April.

Montero gave an example: “A family of four that has been away from home for ten days would receive around 6,000 euros in direct, no-obligation aid, to try and compensate for expenses and inconvenience.” Montero gave the following example: “A family of four, who has been away from its home for ten day, would receive approximately 6,000 euros as direct, non-obligation assistance, in order to compensate for costs and inconvenience”.

The Spanish Government also plans to give benefits for work stops or business suspensions through the ERTE system (temporary employment regulations file) as well as for damages to homes. The Spanish government will provide up to 60,000 euro in assistance for very serious damage. This is quadrupling of the amount usually available for this kind of aid.

The Deputy PM stated, “The most important thing right now is the distribution of aid and streamlining of all the procedures to ensure that bureaucracy won’t be an added problem and we’re able help with the emergency and rebuilding of the economy.”

The government will allocate aid for the economic recovery of three municipalities in particular, Grazalema and Benaocaz in Cadiz province and Dúdar in Granada province. The government will provide up to 120,000 Euros in aid to companies depending on the turnover.

The government has also allocated 2 billion Euros in aid to the municipalities affected to restore infrastructure such as streets, street lighting and roads and tracks.