The Government approves an emergency plan for Ceuta to allocate €309 million in 2026 to measures designed to support the economy and strengthen public services, security and[...]

The Council of Ministers has approved a Royal Decree-law on urgent social and economic measures to support the Autonomous City of Ceuta, comprising an emergency plan involving the mobilisation of €309 million for the remainder of 2026, an economic injection equivalent to 16% of the city's GDP over four months, to be used to strengthen public services, security, reception services, economic activity, employment and the finances of businesses and the self-employed.

The emergency plan approved by the Government marks a further step in the response to the exceptional migration situation experienced in Ceuta on 30 and 31 July, and complements the State's commitment to Ceuta, as outlined in the 2022 Comprehensive Socio-Economic Plan - an initiative resulting from collaboration with the Autonomous City government. The new plan is structured around four key areas: strengthening essential services (€21 million), security (€90 million), humanitarian reception (€118 million) and businesses and workers (€80 million).

Strengthening essential services: Health, Education, Justice and Water

In the field of justice, an investment of €4.5 million is allocated to reinforce staff - including judges, prosecutors, judicial civil servants and administrative personnel - to expedite migrant case files. Funds will also cover free legal aid, the deployment of IT support in Ceuta and the automation of procedures. Funding is also being provided to bolster healthcare resources with 100 new healthcare professionals from INGESA, for both primary care and hospital care, with an investment of €3.5 million. In the education sector, security at schools is being stepped up, and psychosocial support initiatives are being rolled out for the entire educational community, involving an investment of €3.2 million. This package also includes a grant of €2 million to the city of Ceuta, in addition to the more than €7 million approved by the Council of Ministers for the desalination plant.

More funding for security

The Royal Decree-law allocates €90 million to security and highlights the security efforts undertaken in Ceuta since the start of the crisis, in light of the extraordinary deployment of the National Police in various areas of operation, and the reinforcement of the Civil Guard's territorial and prosecutorial units through the extraordinary deployment of additional personnel. Consequently, the legislation recognises these efforts by providing an exceptional performance-related bonus of €7.1 million for the National Police and €8 million for the Civil Guard. In addition, the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces are receiving a reinforcement of €74 million to cover the costs of deploying and withdrawing personnel and assets, as well as transport, logistics and the maintenance of equipment used in the autonomous city.

Humanitarian reception

Resources for the accommodation and basic care of migrants - including food, sanitation, security, support, translation and interpretation services, and medical care - are being increased through an investment of €53.4 million. The legislation places special emphasis on children; the government of Ceuta will receive an additional €63.6 million to bolster reception capacity and available resources for the 1,500 unaccompanied migrant minors currently in the child protection system. This is in addition to the €25 million approved at the previous Council of Ministers meeting.

Support for economic activity

In response to requests from business associations, trade unions, the Chamber of Commerce and the government of Ceuta, measures worth €80 million are being implemented for businesses and workers. These include direct aid, support for commerce, tax measures and social security contribution relief. The plan includes direct aid totalling more than €50 million. Specifically, €36.6 million is earmarked for direct aid to businesses and self-employed individuals, providing approximately €5,000 per self-employed person and between €10,000 and €150,000 per company, depending on turnover. This initiative could benefit 2,500 self-employed people and 1,500 businesses, and applications for the grants can be made from Monday 14 September via the Tax Agency's website, with the aim of starting payments in early October. To receive the aid - which is tax-exempt and immune to seizure - companies need only provide an account number.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise is making €16 million available to support trade, tourism, the hospitality sector and the internationalisation of businesses in Ceuta. Of this amount, €14 million will be channelled through an agreement between the Secretary of State for Trade and the Official Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Services and Navigation of Ceuta: €10 million to boost local commerce through consumer vouchers, buyer-attraction campaigns and initiatives to revitalise commercial districts and markets; and €4 million to support tourism and hospitality through tourism vouchers, visitor promotions, destination marketing campaigns and transport cost discounts for non-residents. Added to this total are €1 million for the Ceuta Exporta Plan - which ICEX will launch to provide personalised support to Ceuta-based companies engaged in exporting - and €1 million for Turespaña to develop a special international promotional campaign for Ceuta as a tourist destination.

To immediately bolster access to financing for Ceuta's companies and self-employed individuals, the Royal Decree-Law establishes a €50 million state-backed guarantee facility managed by the ICO. These guarantees will cover financing operations intended to meet liquidity and working capital needs, as well as investments aimed at maintaining, recovering or relaunching economic activity. In addition, the Government is promoting a more structural measure to foster the stable operation of a Mutual Guarantee Society (SGR) in Ceuta - backed by a two-million-euro contribution - aimed at permanently expanding the financing options available to the city's businesses and self-employed individuals.

In tax matters, the Corporate Tax relief for companies resident in Ceuta and Melilla - as well as for those maintaining business operations and jobs in these autonomous cities - is being permanently increased from 50% to 60%. Meanwhile, self-employed individuals will benefit from improved Personal Income Tax (IRPF) conditions, with greater scope to deduct provisions and expenses that are difficult to justify. This represents a saving of €12 million euros a year per city.

Employment measures and relief on social security contributions

Finally, in the labour market, measures are being introduced to ease the burden of social security contributions on businesses. Consequently, businesses whose operations have been suspended or restricted and which are therefore forced to implement temporary redundancies (ERTE) will benefit from exemptions from Social Security contributions. In addition, there is a one-off payment for self-employed workers who have ceased trading, and the option to defer payments at a minimal interest rate of 0.5%. Furthermore, the reduction in the employer's Social Security contribution is being permanently increased from the current 50% to 75% for employees on permanent contracts, provided they undertake training activities. This measure, which will apply to Ceuta and Melilla, is expected to result in savings of around €12.2 million for each autonomous city over the last four months of the year (€36.6 million per year per city). This employment support is complemented by funding for a call for applications, via the Public State Employment Service, for the training of workers in companies in Ceuta (€650,000).

Permanent reinforcement extended to Melilla

In addition to the structural measures involving instalment payment schemes and tax incentives, the annual allocation of more than €4.25 million to support the operations of the Port of Ceuta - a strategic piece of infrastructure for the local economy - has been extended until 2031. As a result, budgetary support for Ceuta and Melilla will total €507.5 million up to 2031.

Non official translation