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The Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, asked this Friday for applicants for unemployment benefits to be reassured and guaranteed their payment, even before the usual deadline. "Benefits are being recognized at a rate like never before in the history of Spain," the minister said in statements to TVE.

In addition, Díaz has also assured that his Ministry is working in two phases for the gradual recovery of activities : a first time, which will last until the summer, and a second time that will last until the end of the year. At this point, he insisted that there will be sectors, such as tourism, air and sea navigation, leisure and culture, that will have "enormous difficulties" in resuming their activity, for which reason measures are already being designed to give "social cushioning" to these sectors.

More support for sectors such as Tourism

The minister has urged companies to continue using the temporary employment regulation files (ERTE) to avoid layoffs and has indicated that in those activities where recovery is expected to be slower (tourism, restaurants, hotels, commerce, culture and leisure) , among other). " We have to continue with the ERTE of force majeure , because today and for months to come, they will continue without activity."

In fact, he underlined that "the tourism sector and its associated activities (catering, hospitality and commerce)" must be cared for and protected, given the weight they have on Spain's production structure.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, these activities employed five million wage earners . The minister has indicated that the minister of the branch, Reyes Maroto, is already in it. "In the Government we are working with the political forces so that this sector, which is very important in our country, does not fall," he said.

Avalanche of benefits before the SEPE

Díaz explained that the workers of the Public State Employment Service (SEPE) are working tirelessly to process all the benefits files that come to them. "They have worked every day, every weekend, except Easter Sunday, and they are also working from home," stressed the minister.

Díaz has praised the work of SEPE workers and has indicated that of the 110,000 records of public unemployment benefits that entered the agency yesterday, 101,000 were recognized, almost 92%, while the previous day 125,000 entered and 115,000 were recognized benefits, also 92% of those requested that day.

"And so on a daily basis. I ask for peace of mind because the benefits will be recognized and they will also be collected earlier, not on the 10th as usual, but a week has gone by," said the minister.

In this sense, it has indicated that the agreement that has been reached with the financial system has allowed the benefit to be collected on April 3, instead of on the 10th , and the same will happen in May: it will be collected on the 3rd.

Response to criticism of the PP

Díaz has regretted the criticism, mainly from the PP, for the SEPE's management of unemployment benefits. "That a party like the PP, which has governed Spain, does not know how SEPE works and how public benefits are charged worries me. One of two, either they do not know the mechanism, or they are acting in the worst way to try to attack to the Government ", the minister has denounced.

On the other hand, Díaz has recognized that, although the fall in employment has slowed down, the unemployment data for April will again be "exceptional and hard" , as they were in March. "They are going to be bad, but Spain always bleeds from the same side, that of precariousness and temporality, and that needs to be fixed," he said.

The minister has described as "tremendous" the US unemployment data as a result of the health crisis. "Everything the US does is going to get here because of its global impact on the economy. And we have weaknesses in the labor market that make it more complicated to leave," Díaz said, referring to temporary employment, where the adjustment of the employment and where you think you need to act immediately.

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  • Spain
  • PP
  • Yolanda Diaz
  • Reyes Maroto
  • United States
  • Unemployment

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