€2 million for struggling businesses and extra social welfare in Costa Blanca's Denia

THE struggling business sector in Denia is being given a €1 million boost, as the council allocates surplus budget to help out during the coronavirus pandemic.

An extra €1 million is also earmarked for the Social Services department, to increase its budget for 2020, which has been estimated at €6.1 million.
With regards to the business sector, the council has consulted with the Cercle Empresarial de la Marina Alta and the Association of Hotel and Tourism Employers of the Marina Alta (Aehtma) and a conference meeting of the organisations is scheduled to take place next week to discuss what actions should be taken.
Councillor for Economic Services, Paco Roselló estimates the aid will be available within the next fortnight, once everything has been approved.
€6 million of the remaining surplus will be used to pay council suppliers and the early repayment of loans.
Roselló said: “The rest of the cash surplus for 2019, another €6 million, we are going to keep so that we do not become undercapitalised, in anticipation that this year the cash results will not be what we expected.”
He stressed the surplus was achieved through savings in expenditure items such as electricity, telephone, advertising by government bodies, legal expenses and technical urban planning studies, on which the council has spent less than it originally budgeted.
In addition, some income has been higher than foreseen in the budget. For example, €1.8 million more than budgeted has been collected in capital gains and funds received from the Generalitat have exceeded the figure foreseenby €600,000.