Reyes Maroto announces action plan in response to Thomas Cook collapse

After the meeting of the Inter-ministerial Tourism Committee attended by representatives from all ministerial departments, the Spanish acting minister gave a press briefing to highlight the "hard work" carried out by the Government of Spain since the news was released. The resulting plan "offers a comprehensive response in only a few weeks to a whole range of problems stemming from this crisis".

The plan includes 13 measures in four areas: air connectivity; company and professional liquidity; job security; and recovery of tourism demand. The measures will be enshrined in a Royal Decree-Law that will be presented to the Council of Ministers on 11 October.

The 13 measures included in the plan are:

1. A commercial incentive for AENA tariffs. Exoneration of 100% of the passenger tariff on additional seats on international flights operated this winter (27 October 2019 to 28 March 2020) over those scheduled at 31 August 2019. This will apply to the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, and represents a 38% reduction to the total landing and take-off tariff (stopover cost).
2. ENAIRE route tariff reduction of more than 12% as from 1 January 2020, which will help attract new airlines.
3. Additional destination promotion to attract and retain airlines.
4. Creation of a line of credit for up to 200 million euros for companies and self-employed professionals.
5. Extension of the National Insurance credit schemes in fixed discontinuous contracts to the months of October and December 2019.
6. Creation of a service through the Treasury of the Social Security and its regional branches to offer companies and self-employed professionals information about the procedures available to them in cases of delay, late payment or deferral of fees, within the boundaries of current legislation.
7. Creation of an information service by the Spanish Tax Agency at its regional branches to advise on the procedures available to delay the payment of certain taxes, within the boundaries of current legislation.
8. Coordination of support and information measures for the companies affected by the bankruptcy process, in coordination with regional governments.
9. Analysis of current active employment policies in order to focus them on facilitating and expediting the re-employment of those affected.
10. A programme to promote Spain as a tourist destination in order to maintain competitiveness, stimulate demand in markets other than Britain and build tourism loyalty in the regions most affected by the collapse of the British group.
11. Development of measures to consolidate the 2019-2020 tourism offer in the most affected destinations (Canary Islands and Balearic Islands).
12. Boost to the Network of Smart Tourist Destinations, promoted by the State Secretariat of Tourism through SEGITTUR to improve the tourism strategy in the destinations.
13. Design of a legal strategy in defence of the general interest of the State, those affected and consumers.

Non official translation