During the second half of May 2007, heavy rain, wind and hail storms hit much of Spain, with a special impact on the central part of the peninsula. In the Autonomous Community of Castilla-La Mancha there was a singular meteorological phenomenon, when a stationary storm formed that caused constant and continuous rains over a certain area, affecting with special gravity some municipalities such as Alcázar de San Juan, Villarubia de los Ojos and Daimiel, in the province of Ciudad Real, and Madridejos, Camunas, Consuegra and Villacanas, in the province of Toledo. In the province of Jaén, the floods had a significant impact on populations such as La Puerta de Segura, Puente Genave or Santiago-Pontoons, damage that has been reproduced elsewhere in the national territory. The events described have resulted in damage to public infrastructure, as well as private property, especially housing. In addition, these floods have also affected large areas of crops, mainly in vineyards, cereals, olive groves and horticultural crops, both in the Autonomous Community of Castilla-La Mancha, as well as in Castilla y León, Extremadura and Madrid. It is noteworthy to understand the exceptionality of these events, which, in provinces such as Toledo or Ciudad Real, did not register precipitation rates of such magnitude since the middle of the last century. On the other hand, it should be noted that agricultural holdings have also been subjected to certain extraordinary phenomena similar to natural disasters in the Region of Murcia, in the light of the strong winds that occurred during the course of the On 7 and 8 March, they caused serious damage to the harvest of early and offshore production, which were not covered by the coverage of the agricultural insurance system. In order to give an immediate response to the serious situation generated by these floods, the Government of the Nation has agreed to the urgent processing of those procedures of an ordinary nature that already have foreseen in similar situations. character. In this regard, on 25 May 2007, the Council of Ministers agreed to the application of Royal Decree 307/2005 of 18 March, as amended by Royal Decree 477/2007 of 13 April 2007, to these facts, in order to speed up the implementation. the assessment and processing of the grants which will enable the citizens to reach the necessary palliative aid to restore normality in the first phase of the emergency. However, and once a correct assessment of the damage has been carried out, it has been established that there are sectors of economic activity in need of complementary measures of a fiscal or labour nature. It is also noted that, following the immediate actions of local authorities, whose expenditure will be subsidised through the emergency aid referred to above, which is managed by the Ministry of the Interior, it is necessary to undertake repairs or repositions of infrastructure of municipal ownership, for which a line of aid to this purpose, managed by the Ministry of Public Administrations, must be enabled. The aim is to promote the restoration of services, the repair of damage caused and the return to normal of the areas affected by the floods. The aim, therefore, of this rule, is to approve, as a matter of urgency, a catalogue of measures affecting several ministerial departments and covering very different aspects, as some are aimed at reducing the tax burden, others, such as the granting of privileged loans, are trying to alleviate the impact on businesses and individuals affected. On the other hand, the production losses caused by the aforementioned storms, winds and floods in the affected crops and territories make up, due to the magnitude of the damage caused, a situation of natural disaster, in the established by the Community guidelines on State aid to the agricultural sector and by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 of 15 December 2006 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty to State aid for small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in the production of agricultural products and for which they are amend Regulation (EC) No 70/2001. In view of the fact that these contingencies do not have complete coverage under the combined agricultural insurance, appropriate mitigating measures are necessary, in line with the nature and impact of the damage caused by the the production of the territories concerned and the incomes of the farmers. In its virtue, in use of the authorization contained in article 86 of the Constitution, on the proposal of the First Vice President of the Government and Minister of the Presidency, of the Second Vice President of the Government and Minister of Economy and Finance and of the Ministers from the Interior, Development, Labour and Social Affairs, Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Public Administrations and the Environment and prior deliberation of the Council of Ministers at its meeting on 22 June 2007

D I S P O N G O:

Article 1. Scope of application.

1. The measures set out in this Royal Decree-Law will apply to the repair of the damage caused by the floods resulting from the storms of rain, wind and hail which have affected the Autonomous Communities of Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Extremadura and Madrid, as well as the province of Jaen during the last fortnight of May 2007 and the damage caused by the strong winds in the Region of Murcia during the month of March.

The municipal terms and population centres affected to which the measures referred to in particular apply shall be determined by the Order of the Minister of the Interior. 2. For the purposes of such remedial actions, it shall also be understood to include those other municipal terms or population centres in which, in order to ensure the proper execution of the necessary works, the actions of the competent ministerial departments.

Article 2. Grants for damage to municipal infrastructure and road network of provincial deputies.

1. To projects implemented by local authorities in the municipal and population centres referred to in the previous Article, relating to works of repair or restoration of infrastructure, equipment and Municipal and municipal property facilities and services will be applied to the local network of provincial deputies. They will be able to grant them a grant of up to 50 percent of their cost.

2. The holder of the Ministry of Public Administration is empowered to propose the payment of the grants referred to in the previous paragraph, in the part financed by the General Administration of the State, up to a maximum amount of 10,000,000 euros, from the extraordinary credit which, for these purposes, is enabled, with the character of embeddable, in the budgets of that department. 3. Similarly, the holder of the Ministry of Public Administration is empowered to establish the procedure for the granting of the aforementioned grants, as well as their monitoring and control, in the framework of the State's economic cooperation. to the investments of the local authorities.

Article 3. Damage to other public infrastructure.

The holders of the relevant ministerial departments are empowered by reason of the matter to declare the affected areas special area of action, in order to ensure that these departments, their autonomous bodies and entities (i) a new system for the implementation of the new system; For the purposes indicated, the essential works to be carried out by such departments to repair the damage directly caused by the floods on State-owned infrastructure falling within its scope are declared to be of emergency. powers.

Article 4. Compensation for damage to agricultural and livestock production.

The damages caused by the climatic adversities covered by the present Royal Decree-Law, in the agricultural and livestock farms, which, having policies in force covered by the Insurance Plan, will be compensated. Farmers have suffered losses from damage to their production not covered by the combined agricultural insurance lines.

However, for the case of productions which at the time of the accident did not end the period of the corresponding insurance contract, they may also receive the previous compensation provided that the farmer (a) the insurance corresponding to the production in the preceding financial year. Compensation for damage caused to productions not included in the current Annual Insurance Plan may also be collected, except that the affected productions are guaranteed by insurance not included in the Agrarian Insurance System. Combined. Those allowances shall be made to the holders of holdings which, in the area referred to in Article 1, have suffered losses exceeding 30% of the production, in accordance with the criteria laid down by the European Union in this respect.

Article 5. Tax benefits.

1. The exemption from the duties on immovable property in respect of the financial year 2007 affecting housing, industrial and commercial establishments, agricultural holdings, work premises and the like, damaged as direct consequence of the floods, when it is established that both the persons and the goods in them have had to be rehoused in whole or in part in other different dwellings or premises until the damage is repaired suffered, or damage to crops, which are not covered by any of the following public or private insurance.

2. A reduction in the Tax on Economic Activities for the financial year 2007 is granted to industries of any kind, commercial establishments and professionals whose premises of business or property affects that activity have been damaged as a direct result of the flooding, provided that they have had to be rehomed or damage has been caused to the temporary closure of the activity. The indicated reduction shall be proportional to the time elapsed from the day on which the cessation of the activity has occurred until its restart under normal conditions, either on the same premises or on other persons authorised for that purpose, without prejudice to consider, where the gravity of the damage produced from origin to it, the assumption of cessation in the exercise of the activity, which will take effect from 31 December 2006. 3. The exemptions and reductions in quotas in the taxes referred to in the preceding paragraphs shall include those of surcharges legally authorised. 4. Taxpayers who, having the right to the benefits provided for in the preceding paragraphs, would have satisfied the receipts corresponding to that tax year may request the refund of the quantities entered. 5. They shall be exempt from the rates of the Central Traffic Headquarters established by Law 16/1979 of 2 October, the processing of the vehicle casualties, requested as a result of the damage caused by the floods, and the dispatch of duplicate movement or driving licences destroyed or lost by those causes. 6. The decrease in local tax revenues that the previous paragraphs of this article will produce in the Provincial Councils and Diputations will be compensated by the General Budget of the State, in accordance with the Article 9 of the recast text of the Law on Local Government Law, approved by the Royal Legislative Decree of 5 March.

Article 6. Special tax reductions for agricultural activities.

For holdings and agricultural activities carried out in areas determined by the order for the development of Article 1 of this Royal Decree-Law, and in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 4.1 of the Article 37 of the Regulation on the Income Tax of the Physical Persons, approved by Royal Decree 439/2007 of 30 March and Article 38 (3) of the Value Added Tax Regulation, approved by Royal Decree 1624/1992, of 29 December, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, in the light of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food may, by way of exception, authorise the reduction of the net yield rates referred to in Order EHA/804/2007 of 30 March 2007, for which the method of estimation is developed for the year 2007. objective of the Income Tax of the Physical Persons and the simplified special regime of the Tax on the Value Added.

Article 7. Labour and social security measures.

1. The cases of employment regulation which have their cause in the damage caused by the floods shall be taken into account as a result of a situation of force majeure, with the consequences arising from Articles 47 and 51 of the text. recast of the Law of the Workers ' Statute, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1/1995 of 24 March. The General Treasury of Social Security may exempt the employer from the payment of the contributions to the Social Security in the first case for the duration of the suspension period, with the condition of that period remaining as effectively listed by the worker. In the event of termination of the contract, the workers ' compensation shall be borne by the Salarial Guarantee Fund, subject to the legally established limits.

In cases where the suspension of contracts or the temporary reduction of the working day on the basis of exceptional circumstances is resolved, the employment authority may authorise the time when the contract is suspended. In the case of unemployment benefits, covered by Title III of the recast of the General Law on Social Security, adopted by Royal Legislative Decree 1/1994 of 20 June, which will bring its immediate cause in the floods, compute for the purpose of consuming the established maximum periods of perception. It may also authorise the receipt of unemployment benefits for workers included in those files which do not have the necessary periods of contribution to be entitled to them. 2. Businesses and self-employed persons, including in any social security scheme, may apply for and obtain, on the basis of the damage suffered, a moratorium of up to one year without interest in the payment of the contributions Social security, including actual days, corresponding to the months of April and May 2007, except in the case of workers of the Special Administrative Workers ' Regime, which would correspond to the months of May and June 2007. 3. Social security contributions which are entitled to the benefits provided for in the preceding paragraphs and have satisfied the quotas corresponding to the exemptions or the moratorium in question may ask for the refund of the amounts entered, including, where appropriate, interest on late payment, surcharges and costs incurred. If the person who is entitled to the refund is liable to the Social Security for other periods, the credit for the refund will be applied to the payment of outstanding debts with the Social Security in the form that is legally applicable. 4. To carry out the repair of the damage caused, the Public Administrations and the Non-profit Entities may request from the Public Employment Services the membership of workers recipients of the benefits unemployment for social partnership work, in accordance with the provisions of Article 213.3 of the recast text of the General Law on Social Security.

Article 8. Arrangements for procurement.

1. For the purposes of Article 72 of the recast text of the Law on Public Administration Contracts, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 2/2000 of 16 June, they will have the consideration of works, services, acquisitions or emergency supplies for the repair or maintenance of the infrastructure and equipment service, as well as the replacement works of goods damaged by the disaster, whichever is the same.

2. To those same effects, the water infrastructure, the roads and, in general, any that have been affected by the floods, are included in any case. 3. The occupation of the goods affected by the expropriations resulting from the performance of the works referred to in this article is declared urgent for the purposes laid down in Article 52 of the Compulsory Expropriation Act of 16 of December, 1954. 4. In the processing of the procurement files not included in Article 129.2 of the recast of the Law on Public Administrations Contracts, it shall be exempt from the prior requirement for the availability of land, without prejudice to its effective occupation is not done until the occupation act is formalised.

Article 9. Aid to individuals for personal and material damage.

To personal aid for death, to individuals for damage to habitual housing and first need, as well as to the communities of owners under horizontal ownership and holders of establishments In the case of industrial, commercial and service industries, the concession procedure provided for in Royal Decree 307/2005 of 18 March 2005, which regulates subsidies for certain needs arising from situations in which they are based, will apply to them. Emergency or catastrophic nature, as amended by Royal Decree 477/2007, of 13 September April.

Article 10. Aid to Local Corporations for emergency expenses.

1. The grants awarded by the Ministry of the Interior to local authorities for emergency expenses will apply to them as set out in Royal Decree 307/2005 of March 18, for this concept. They shall not be subject to any repairs or repositions of an infrastructural nature referred to in Article 2 of this Royal Decree-Law, however, which may be supported by those indeferrals which, in the same field of This is the case, which has been carried out in order to ensure the functioning of the essential public services and to ensure the lives and safety of persons.

2. For these purposes, a period of one month shall be set for the submission of applications for the aid referred to in the preceding paragraph, and for those referred to in Article 9 of this royal decree, which shall start from the day on following that of the publication, in the Official Gazette of the State, of the order in the development of Article 1 of this Royal Decree-Law, without prejudice to the continuation of the processing of the procedures for the granting of these aids have been initiated after the completion of the causative facts. 3. Aid to be granted under this Article and in the preceding Article shall be financed from appropriations 16.01.134M.482 and 16.01.134M.782 " Current and capital transfers to non-profit families and institutions for the purposes of any order arising out of claims, disasters or other recognised emergencies "and 16.01.134M.461 and 16.01.134M.761" Current transfers and capital transfers to local corporations for the purposes of any order arising out of claims, (a) disaster or other recognised urgency, provided, as an extension, in the current budget of the Ministry of the Interior.

Article 11. Preferential lines of credit.

The Institute of Official Credit (ICO), in its condition as a financial agency of the State, is instructed to implement a line of mediation loans amounting to 5,000,000 euros, which may be extended by the Ministry of Economy and Finance in the light of the damage assessment and the consequent demand, for which it will use the mediation of the financial institutions with implementation in the affected autonomous communities, with which they will subscribe the necessary collaboration agreements.

The Government Delegations and the Insurance Compensation Consortium will refer to the Official Credit Institute of the companies, natural or legal, potentially beneficiaries of this line of loans, with the expression of their identification and the maximum amount of damage assessed. These loan lines, which will be used to finance the repair or replacement of industrial and commercial installations and equipment, agricultural, livestock and irrigation, automobiles, motorcycles and mopeds for private use, vehicles trade, agricultural machinery and working premises of professionals who have been damaged as a result of the floods, shall be carried out on loan operations granted by those financial institutions, the characteristics of which shall be:

a. Maximum amount: The amount of the damage assessed by the Delegation, in the affected Autonomous Communities, or Subdelegation of the Government of the province concerned or, where appropriate, by the Insurance Compensation Consortium, discounted, where appropriate, the amount the credit they have been able to subscribe from the preferential credit lines to be established on the initiative of the respective autonomous communities.

b. Deadline: 5 years, including 1 year of absence of principal. c. Interest: The type of transfer by the ICO to the financial institutions will be 1.50 percent, with a maximum margin of intermediation for these of 0.50 percent. Consequently, the maximum final rate for the borrower will be 2 per cent SAD. d. Processing: The applications will be submitted to the financial institution, which will decide on the granting of the loan, the risk of the operation being at its expense. e. Duration of the line: the deadline for the provision of funds shall be 31 December 2007.

The instrumentation of the line of loans referred to in this Article shall be carried out by the Institute of Official Credit, in the performance of the functions referred to in the additional provision sixth, two, 2, paragraph a, On 28 December, the Royal Decree-Law 12/1995 of 28 December 1995 of urgent measures in budgetary, tax and financial matters, and, in its virtue, it has broken the fact that for the ICO the differential between the market cost of obtaining the resources and the The aforementioned rate of 1.50 percent will be covered by the General State Budget.

Article 12. Inter-ministerial Commission.

1. An Inter-Ministerial Commission is hereby established for the implementation of the measures established in this Royal Decree-Law, chaired by the Director General of Civil and Emergency Protection and composed of representatives of the Ministries of Economy and Finance, of the Interior, Development, Labour and Social Affairs, Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Presidency, Public Administrations, the Environment and Housing, as well as the Government Delegations in the Autonomous Communities affected.

Will also participate in the Commission, a representative of the Insurance Compensation Consortium and another of the Institute of Official Credit. 2. The follow-up of the measures foreseen in this Royal Decree-Law will be carried out by the Commission referred to in the previous paragraph, in coordination with the authorities of the Autonomous Communities concerned, through the Government Delegations.

Article 13. Insurance Compensation Consortium.

1. The damage assessments referred to in Articles 9 and 11 of this Royal Decree-Law shall be carried out by the Insurance Compensation Consortium, at the request of the Delegate or Subdelegate of the Government of the affected territory.

2. The Consortium shall be entitled to the payment by the General Administration of the State of the work of assessment in accordance with the scale of professional fees which the Consortium has approved for its insurance expert experts. 3. In order to facilitate the processing of aid and the assessment of damage, the competent authority and the Insurance Compensation Consortium may transmit the data on beneficiaries of the aid and compensation they grant, their the respective amounts and the goods concerned.

Article 14. Agreements with other public administrations.

The General Administration of the State will be able to hold with the Autonomous Communities and with other public administrations the collaboration agreements that demand the implementation of this Royal Decree-Law.

Additional disposition first. Limits of the aid.

The value of the aid granted under this Royal Decree-Law, in terms of material damage, may in no way exceed the difference between the value of the damage produced and the amount of other aid or (a) to be declared compatible or complementary, which may, by the same concepts, be granted by other public, national or international bodies or be in accordance with the existence of insurance policies.

Additional provision second. Budget appropriations.

The cost of the measures referred to in this Royal Decree-Law will be financed from the budgets of the respective ministerial departments, with the exception of the actions referred to in Articles 2 and 4, for The following shall be made available for special loans, which shall be financed from the Contingency Fund in accordance with Article 50 (1) (b) of Law 47/2003 of 26 November of 26 November. budget implementation.

Additional provision third. Damage to public infrastructure owned by the communities of regants.

For the purposes set out in Article 3, the works to be carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to repair the damage caused to public infrastructure owned by the communities are declared emergency. of regants, which fall within its sphere of competence.

Additional provision fourth. Advances in aid linked to certain loans for the improvement and modernisation of agricultural structures.

In the municipal terms concerned, on a preferential basis, the advance payment of the total amount of the aid for the repayment of the principal of the loans under the Royal Decree may be paid in advance. 613/2001 of 8 June for the improvement and modernisation of the structures for the production of agricultural holdings, of the dossiers for which the corresponding final certification of commitments and implementation is available of investments.

Additional provision fifth. Collaboration agreements for the restoration of vineyard plots and other woody crops.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will be able to subscribe with the public, regional and local administrations of the autonomous communities affected by the floods, the collaboration agreements necessary for the identification and financing of the actions necessary for the restoration of those plots of vineyards and other woody crops that would have been affected in their productive potential.

Additional provision sixth. Nature of the aid for Community purposes.

For the purposes of the provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 of 15 December 2006 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty on State aid for small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in the production of agricultural products, the adverse climatic events which took place on the dates and territorial areas established in this royal decree are declared to be equivalent to natural disaster.

Final disposition first. Powers of development.

The Government and the various ministers of the ministerial departments, within the scope of their powers, will dictate the necessary provisions and set the deadlines for the implementation of the provisions of this Royal Decree-Law.

Final disposition second. Entry into force.

This Royal Decree-law will enter into force on the same day as its publication in the Official Gazette of the State.

Given in Madrid, on June 22, 2007.

JOHN CARLOS R.

The President of the Acting Government, MARIA TERESA FERNANDEZ DE LA VEGA SANZ