The acting government yesterday approved a battery of aid to alleviate the impact of the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook in the tourism sector, but also to help him digitize and be "less dependent on the tour operator." For the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, this bankruptcy has been "an opportunity" for Spain to make the leap towards a model change.

Three weeks have passed since the bankruptcy of the tour operator, what is the current situation? After bankruptcy we define 13 measures that were realistic and that we have now specified in this decree law. It had to be articulated via royal decree law because some measures required modifications of the law, such as the extension of the 50% bonus of Social Security contributions to the discontinuous fixed ones. This measure will be only for the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands because they are the most affected communities, for the trips they will not charge and for the 500,000 tourists who have bought their packages and will not be able to travel. Does the Government have data on the companies affected? There are about 1,000 companies, but, of this figure, some are suppliers of companies affected. We estimate that there are between 200 and 300 million debt, which are invoices due to the bankrupt group, but there will be supplier companies that, as a result of non-payments, will also be affected. The 200 million credit line has been approved for them. Measures have been approved for all communities ... We wanted the crash plan not only for the Canary and Balearic Islands, although all agree that they are the most affected. We have approved a change in a fund that already existed, that of infrastructure modernization, which will now be the competitiveness fund. It is about helping companies to strengthen the marketing channels and the digitalization of their business model, so that they can reduce the dependence of the tour operator. There will be 500 million for the entire tourism sector, to be less sensitive to crises like this. You learn something from every crisis and depending on a single tour operator has risks. The most urgent measures were for the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands ... The British market is very present in these communities, it is a priority market, but we have to diversify the issuing markets . Especially since we are on the eve of Brexit. We must reduce dependence on the British market, it will continue to be our main issuing market and it is a very popular market, but we understand that the responsibility is to increase in markets such as the US, Latin America or Asia. Within the package there are other additional measures that did not require the rank of law, such as the Aena passenger fare discount, which is already being effective because we are already seeing that the hole left by Thomas Cook is being covered and there are companies that have announced flights to the Canary Islands. Do you think the tour operator model is in decline? The impact of this crisis must be put in relative terms, Thomas Cook operated last year 7.4 million British passengers, out of a total of 18.5 million, which means that the sector was already diversified in its business model. The tour operator model is not sold out, it still has a route, but it must be made compatible with a different one so that companies and hoteliers have more autonomy to capture a demand that now comes through a third party. To this we add the impact of Brexit, which is already being noticed in the arrival of tourists ... For Brexit we have been preparing months. We have already passed a royal decree, a contingency plan. It will be an orderly transition. Before Brexit, the problem is more of expectations, of uncertainty, of not knowing if the British, in this situation, will decide to continue traveling to Spain or stay or go to third countries. Tourists have to know that they will not have an additional lock. We must achieve loyalty to these third markets, we have to offer something that these destinations do not offer. You have to add value to the sun and beach. It is important to teach them another Spain. How was the management of the crisis with the British Government? The dialogue has been mainly with the contingency plan for the return of tourists who were here. Now we have the problem of insolvency of the company. We must see if we are going to ask the company for state responsibilities. It is something that is being studied. Do you think the impact of bankruptcy has been exaggerated? There was talk of a Lehman Brothers ...- The bankruptcy of Thomas Cook is something that the Government did not have the ability to avoid. The scope of Thomas Cook remains to be seen, because the tourism sector is very integrated in the value chain. If we do not manage to close the hotels in these first months and we cannot fill them, it will be seen ... The director of Aliexpress said this week that Spain, in digitalization, is like China 20 years ago. Do you think we are so far behind, is our Achilles heel? We are not so far. And when it comes to tourism, we are prepared to make the leap, but we lacked a boost to do so. We have to reduce the dependence on the tour operator and give companies more autonomy. We are ready and we have the tools to do it. Your ministry faces another problem with tariffs. On Monday there is a meeting between Europe and the US, what are your expectations? We have asked the EU to strengthen the Commission's position in the negotiation with the US. It's about negotiating, not setting tariffs and then negotiating. We want the elements of pressure to be reinforced and we hope to resume the dialogue. This is a scenario in which we both lose. What is clear is that the new aid scheme for the aeronautical sector must be defined. This is what should lead us to consensus.

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