Desperate Workers and Businesses Hit by Covid-19 Lockdown Get Help in Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca Areas of Spain

SPAIN’S cabinet has approved new plans to help desperate workers and businesses hit by the Covid-19 lockdown in the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca areas of the country.

The measures include extending unemployment benefits and also changing the tax code which the government says should free up over a billion euros to help small businesses and the self-employed.

“With each passing day we are managing to slow the spread of the coronavirus a little more,” government spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montero told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

In a busy day of announcements, the government unveiled a series of measures aimed at helping prostitutes and victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation survive the coronavirus lockdown.

Under the new plans, victims will be able to access improved support services, emergency accommodation and to claim a new social benefit for those at risk of extreme poverty.

Victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation and prostitutes have not had their rights protected since the State of Alarm started, with normal support services halted because of restrictions on movement.

The Ministry said in a statement: “During inspections and closures of hostels, hotels and clubs, the army and police will better coordinate with organisations that provide assistance and protection, to detect and identify victims more effectively”.

The government also said it would try to raise awareness of existing 24-hour telephone and online support services for victims, including a special trafficking hotline.