The Royal Decree-law of urgent social and economic measures in favor of the city of Ceuta, approved this Tuesday by the Council of Ministers, will come into effect tomorrow after its publication this Wednesday in the Official State Bulletin (BOE).
The plan designed by the Executive to reactivate the Ceuta economy after the massive arrival of immigrants at the end of July mobilizes 309 million euros, to which an additional 50 million in guarantees are added, during what remains of 2026. The objective is to sustain essential services, reinforce security, the reception of minors, and humanitarian assistance, as well as support companies and workers.
The total amount is distributed in different blocks, the main one being that destined for the reception of minors and humanitarian assistance, endowed with 118 million euros.
Likewise, security will have a specific reinforcement of 90 million euros, and 80 million euros are allocated for direct aid and other support instruments for the productive fabric and employment. For its part, essential services, including health, education, justice, or water supply, will receive 21 million euros. In total, this injection amounts to 16% of Ceuta's GDP in just four months.
Direct support for the business fabric
In the chapter of support for companies, the package of 80 million includes a fund of direct aid of 36.6 million euros, which will be managed by the Tax Agency, in order to reach 2,500 self-employed and 1,500 companies in the city.
In this way, the self-employed will receive 5,000 euros, while companies will be able to apply for subsidies ranging from 1,000 to 150,000 euros, depending on their turnover. Applications can be processed from September 14 through the Tax Agency's website, and the Government expects the first payments to be made at the beginning of October.
To these 36.6 million, another 14 million euros aimed at small commerce and the tourism sector will be added, which will be articulated through the Chamber of Commerce. The purpose is to reactivate these two branches of activity, "severely affected" by the crisis.
Among the planned initiatives are consumer vouchers and discounts to reduce transportation costs for non-residents and thus encourage the arrival of visitors to the city.
In addition, one million euros is reserved for the "Ceuta Export Plan," which will be promoted by Icex, and another million for an international promotion campaign of Ceuta as a vacation destination.
At the same time, the Government will launch a line of guarantees from the ICO of up to 50 million euros with the aim of ensuring that "credit and financing to companies continues to flow and under good conditions."
Tourism boost and image recovery
The decree also incorporates specific measures for the external projection of Ceuta as a tourist destination. Through the Institute of Tourism of Spain (Turespaña), an extraordinary promotion and image recovery plan for the city will be developed, aimed at selected international markets.
This program will include concrete actions in the network of tourism offices abroad, campaigns in international issuing markets, and press and familiarization trips with tour operators and agents, with special attention to the priority markets for Ceuta.
ERTE, protection for self-employed workers, and bonuses
In the labor field, the Executive contemplates a 100% exemption from Social Security contributions for companies that have seen their activity interrupted and that apply for a temporary employment regulation file (ERTE), as well as extraordinary benefits for cessation of activity for the self-employed and the possibility of deferring payments to Social Security with an interest of 0.5%.
Specifically, an extraordinary benefit for cessation of activity is regulated for self-employed workers with a residence or activity address in Ceuta, whose activity has ceased totally or partially, whether temporarily or definitively, due to the reduction in demand and the alteration of activity caused by the massive and irregular entry of immigrants, although linked to the reduction of monthly income.
The maximum duration of this aid will be four months, a period in which it is expected that the economic effects will continue to be felt more intensely.
In relation to the ERTE, a specific force majeure regime is established, valid until December 31 of this year, which expands its application to total or partial suspensions of activity and reductions in working hours that are directly or indirectly related to the situation in Ceuta.
The companies in the autonomous city affected by these files will be able to benefit from a 100% exemption of the employer's contribution to Social Security, both for common and professional contingencies and other concepts of joint collection, regarding the contributions from September to December 2026 of the workers and periods subject to suspension or reduction of working hours.
Likewise, the regulation raises from 50% to 75%, permanently, the bonus on the employer contributions of workers with indefinite contracts or replacement contracts due to temporary incapacity who provide services in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla. New beneficiary sectors are also added, such as construction. The budgetary cost of these bonuses amounts to 36.6 million euros annually for each of the two cities.
At the same time, the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) will allocate 650,000 euros in subsidies to finance training programs of territorial scope in Ceuta aimed mainly at employed workers.
Tax advantages and support for the port
Along with the hiring incentives, the decree introduces other structural measures, such as the increase from 50% to 60% of the bonus on the Corporate Tax for resident entities and the improvement of the possibilities for deducting certain expenses for the self-employed, including those that are "difficult to justify."
Both measures will also apply to Melilla, with practically equivalent amounts, which will mean additional support of about 100 million euros annually for the business community of the two autonomous cities.
Furthermore, the Royal Decree-law includes support actions for the port of Ceuta amounting to 4.25 million euros annually for five years, from 2027 to 2031.
Reinforcement of essential services and security
In the field of basic services, the plan provides for the reinforcement of health resources with the incorporation of 100 new professionals from the National Institute of Health Management (Ingesa) for primary and hospital care, with an investment of 3.5 million euros.
3.2 million will also be dedicated to strengthening security in educational centers and developing psychosocial support actions for the entire school community, while another 4.5 million will be aimed at increasing the number of judges, prosecutors, legal advisors of the Administration of Justice, and officials, as well as financing free legal assistance in Ceuta.
The package also includes a grant of 2 million euros for the city of Ceuta, which adds to the more than 7 million already approved for the desalination plant.
In terms of security, the 90 million euros planned include an exceptional performance incentive of 7.1 million euros for the National Police and 8 million for the Civil Guard. The remaining 74 million will be allocated to strengthening the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces.