The ACCAC (Association of Homes and Colleges of Catalonia) connects schools, teachers, camps, education centres and camp professionals in Catalonia. The ACCAC website provides both statements and insights into a vibrant school/camp and summer camp environment in the region of Spain. The following is a statement from the Managing Director, Pedro de Haro.
Dear Members,
Starting with the last report that we have received from PIMEC [Catalonia, Employers Association], it is worth highlighting the package of measures approved by the Spanish Government today, among which the already announced extends from the state of emergency until 9 May.
The government also approves extraordinary measures for the payment of rents for business premises. We attach a document with press release where it is explicit that you can benefit SMEs and freelancers which economic activity has been suspended or reduced dramatically. Pending the exact publication of the Government Agreement, it is basically to allow the negotiation of the deferral of payments of the time period that the state of alarm of the rents of business premises of big owners, giving the option also of the use of the bail as a mechanism of negotiation, among other forms of splitting of the instalments that are postponed.
The protection of discontinuous permanent workers is also reinforced, extending the coverage regulated by those workers who have not been able to return to their activity on the planned dates as a consequence OF THE Covid-19.
Last Friday was also announced that the treasury of the Social security will return ex officio the quotas that were admitted by the self-employed in March when they overcame the extraordinary benefit for cessation of the activity without having to do any formality.
We also inform you that yesterday we held a meeting with the Directorate General of Youth to discuss the prospects of the summer campaign. We are sorry to have to comment that we keep moving in the total uncertainty of whether it will be possible to develop the summer activities or not, and that everything is still subject to the strategies of de-confinement and the evolution of the illness. Despite this, the entities representative of the sector we are placed in the next days of being able to get a joint proposal of summer campaign and with contributions on how to make viable the celebration of activities. In this sense, we invite you to send us any suggestion, idea, question you consider to take into account to resume the activity when we leave.
The meeting was also used to insist on the urgency of receiving specific support measures for the youth facilities sector as we remembered with the last joint press release. We were confirmed that we are working on possible aids, but we didn’t get any more concretion. Apart from the dialogue with youth, we are getting our demands to all instances of the Government and ensuring all the possible media echo.
In this sense, we are pleased that it was finally transmitted last Friday, in the news evening, the report about the situation of holiday camps and hostels in which three of our associated facilities participated, with declarations of Werner Estelle as President OF THE ACCAC.
Insofar as we have any new information, we will let you know and remain as always available to you. Be very careful.
Pedro de Haro
Managing Director
Submitted by Carolina Fleix-Wright is an ICF Ambassador for Spain and future ICF Advisory Board Member (2020-2023). Carolina directs “English Summer”. She lives in Tarrogona, Spain