Between 1 and 19 August, and after a series of adverse circumstances of a different nature, occurred in the Autonomous Community of Extremadura forest fires of exceptional magnitude that, not being able to be controlled, they acquired great dimensions, with consequent consequence of damages, mainly on forest masses and agricultural and livestock farms, and of risk to the life of the people, that forced the evacuation of numerous stocks. Various municipal infrastructure, rural roads, secondary irrigation networks, and different sections of rivers and streams corresponding to the public hydraulic domain were also affected.

Indeed, on the one hand, the adverse weather conditions that occurred during the year 2003 (a particularly rainy winter, a dry spring and a summer with unsuffered temperatures throughout the last century) and, on the other hand, The extension to the Autonomous Community of Extremadura of fires with origin in other countries (Portugal) and in other autonomous communities of Spain, brought as a consequence an inordinate increase in the number and intensity of the fires which are usually experienced every summer season, transforming an alarm situation into a real disaster.

The magnitude of this event and its serious consequences require, from the constitutional principle of solidarity and the application of equity and equal treatment in relation to previous situations, to the actions of the public authorities and the adoption of a set of palliative and restorative measures aimed at the gradual restoration of normality with the repair of the damage produced.

The aim, therefore, of this rule is to approve a catalogue of measures affecting several ministerial departments and cover very different aspects, such as direct aid, reduction of tax burdens or privileged loans, designed to alleviate the impact of the disaster on businesses and individuals affected.

Further details are also set out to ensure that the implementation and financing of certain measures is carried out through appropriate coordination of actions and cooperation between the bodies of the General Administration of the State, Autonomous Community and Local Administration.

On the other hand, the production losses caused by the fires on forest masses and crops make up, due to the magnitude of the damage caused, a situation comparable to that of natural disaster, in terms of established by the Community guidelines on State aid to the agricultural sector.

This is why compensation for damage to the affected agricultural production is set out in this provision, only when insured with policies in force of the Combined Agricultural Insurance and these risks do not coverage in the current regulation of such insurance.

In addition, given the unique concurrent circumstances in this case and as a complement to the foregoing, the General Administration of the State will promote the subscription of a collaboration agreement for the development of a Tourism in the Comarcas of Las Hurdes, Sierra de Gata and Campina de Valencia de Alcantara, with the aim of alleviating the effects of the fires of August 2003 in the tourism sector, in those regions.

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 Economy, of the Second Vice President of the Government and Minister of the Presidency and of the Ministers of the Interior, Finance, Development, Labour and Social Affairs, Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Public Administrations, and after deliberation by the Council of Ministers at its meeting on 21 November 2003,

D I S P O N G O:

Article 1. Scope of application.

1. The measures set out in this royal decree will apply to the repair of the damage caused by the fires that affected the Autonomous Community of Extremadura during the month of August 2003.

The municipal and population terms to which the measures referred to are applicable 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. Damage to municipal infrastructure and road network of provincial deputies.

To projects implemented by local authorities in the municipal and population centres referred to in the previous article, relating to the repair or restoration of infrastructure, (a) the equipment or facilities and services referred to in Article 26.1 (d) of Law 7/1985 of 2 April, Regulation of the Local Government Bases, and the road network of the provincial deputies, shall be applied to the emergency procedure and the State may grant them a grant of up to 50% of their cost.

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 areas, in order to ensure that these departments, their autonomous bodies and public entities that are dependent on them, can carry out the restorations that come from them.

For the purposes indicated, the works to be carried out by such departments are declared emergency to repair the damage caused by the State-owned infrastructure within its field of competence.

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

The damage caused by the fires in agricultural and livestock farms, which, having policies in force covered by the Agricultural Insurance Plan for the financial year 2003, will be affected will be compensated. for damage to their production not covered by the combined agricultural insurance lines.

However, in the case of productions which have not started the corresponding insurance contract on the dates of the accident, they may also receive the previous compensation, provided that the farmer he had contracted the insurance against the same production in the previous year.

Compensation may also be charged for damages caused in productions not included in the current annual Plan of Agrarian Insurance, except that the affected productions are guaranteed by insurance not included in the combined agricultural insurance system.

Such compensation shall be made to the holders of holdings which, in the area referred to in Article 1, have suffered losses exceeding 20% or 30% of the insured production, whether or not it is a disadvantaged area, in accordance with the criteria laid down by the European Union in this respect.

The damage to apiculture farms may be subject to compensation under the conditions laid down in this Article.

Article 5. Tax benefits.

1. The exemption from the tax on immovable property in respect of the financial year 2003 affecting housing, industrial and commercial establishments, agricultural and forestry holdings, working premises and the like is granted as a direct result of the fires, when it is established that both persons and property 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 destroyed in crops are claims not covered by any public or private insurance formula.

2. A reduction in the tax on economic activities for the financial year 2003 is granted to industries of any kind, commercial and professional establishments, which are obliged to pay the tax, whose premises of business or property affected by this activity have been damaged as a direct consequence of the said disaster, provided that it is established that they would have had to be rehoused or damage caused by 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 the restart of the activity under conditions of normality, either on the same premises or on other facilities, without (a) to consider, where the seriousness of the damage produced from origin to that effect, the assumption of the cessation of the exercise of that effect which will take effect from 31 December 2002.

3. The exemptions and reductions in quotas in the taxes referred to in the preceding paragraphs shall also include those of surcharges which are legally authorised.

4. Taxpayers who, having the right to the benefits provided for in the preceding paragraphs, have satisfied the receipts corresponding to that tax year, may request the refund of the quantities entered.

5. The processing of the number of vehicle casualties requested as a result of the damage caused by the fires and the issue of duplicates of traffic or driving licences shall be exempt from the fees of the Central Traffic Headquarters. destroyed or lost to that cause.

6. The decrease in local tax revenues that the previous paragraphs of this article will produce in the provincial councils and deputies will be compensated by the General Budget of the State, in accordance with the provisions of the Article 9 of Law 39/1988 of 28 December 1988 on the Regulatory of Local Government.

Article 6. Special tax reductions for agricultural activities.

For holdings and agricultural activities located in the areas determining the order for the development of Article 1 of this royal decree, and in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 4.1 of the Article 35 of the Regulation of the Income Tax of the Physical Persons, approved by Royal Decree 214/1999 of 5 February, the Ministry of Finance, in the light of the report of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, may authorize, with exceptional character, the reduction of the net yield rates to which the Order refers HAC/225/2003, of February 11, which develops for the year 2003 the regime of objective estimation of the Tax on the Income of the Physical Persons and the simplified regime of the Tax on the Value Added.

Article 7. Labour and social security measures.

1. The records of the employment regulations which have their cause in the damage caused by the fires referred to in Article 1 shall be taken into account as a result of a situation of force majeure, with the consequences Derived from

Articles 47 and 51 of the recast of the Law of the Workers ' Statute, approved by the Royal Legislative Decree 1/1995, of March 24. 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 under exceptional circumstances is resolved favourably, the labour authority may authorise the time in which the contract is to be suspended. the unemployment benefits, regulated in Title III of the recast text of the General Law on Social Security, approved by the Royal Legislative Decree 1/1994 of 20 June, which bring their immediate cause into the facts which motivate them, are collected the present standard is not computed for the purpose of consuming the maximum periods of perception established.

You may also authorize 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. Companies and self-employed persons included in any social security scheme may, on the basis of the damage suffered, apply for a moratorium of one year without interest in the payment of the contributions to the Social security, corresponding to the months of August and September 2003.

3. In order to carry out the repair of damage caused, public administrations and non-profit-making bodies may apply to the National Employment Institute for the posting of workers who are recipients of unemployment benefits. for social collaboration work, in accordance with the provisions of Article 213.3 of the recast text of the General Law of Social Security, approved by the Royal Legislative Decree 1/1994 of 20 June.

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 the 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 fires, whatever their value.

2. These same effects are, in any case, included between the infrastructures, the roads and, in general, any that have been affected by the fires produced during the month of August.

3. The occupation of the goods affected by the expropriations resulting from the construction of the works referred to in this article, for the purposes set out in Article 52 of the Law on Compulsory Expropriation, of 16 December of 16 December, is declared urgent. 1954.

4. In the processing of the procurement files not covered by 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 the land, without prejudice to the its effective occupation is not done until the occupation act is formalised.

Article 9. Emergency aid.

Emergency and immediate aid to alleviate the damage caused by the fires will be governed by the provisions of the Order of the Ministry of the Interior of 18 March 1993, partly as amended by the July 1996, on the procedure for granting aid to certain needs arising from emergency situations, disasters and public calamities.

The aid to families and units of economic coexistence for personal and material damages in their homes and/or first-need beings, will be complementary to those that, with equal and equal cause, can (a) to be granted to the beneficiaries by the regional or local authorities from their respective budgets, or to correspond under the existence of insurance policies.

Article 10. Preferential lines of credit.

The Institute of Official Credit (ICO), in its capacity as the State Financial Agency, is instructed to implement a line of loans amounting to 10 million euros that can be extended by the Ministry of Economy in the role of the assessment of the damage and the consequent demand, using the mediation of the financial institutions with implementation in the Autonomous Community of Extremadura, by subscribing to them the appropriate collaboration agreements.

These loan lines, which will be used to finance the repair or replacement of industrial, commercial and agricultural, livestock, forestry and tourism equipment and installations, commercial vehicles, agricultural machinery and working premises of professionals who have been damaged as a result of the accident which motivates this standard, shall be carried out in the form of loans granted by those financial institutions, whose Features will be:

(a) Maximum amount: the amount of damage assessed by the Government Delegation or Subdelegation in the relevant province or, where appropriate, by the Insurance Compensation Consortium, discounted, where appropriate, the amount of the credit that is (i) the right to take over from the preferential credit lines to be established on the initiative of the Autonomous Community of Extremadura.

b) Deadline: five years, including one year of absence.

(c) Interest: the type of transfer by the ICO to the financial institutions will be 1.25 percent TAE, with a maximum margin of intermediation for the same of 0.50 percent. Consequently the maximum final rate for the borrower will be 1.75 per cent SAD.

d) Processing: applications will be submitted in the financial institutions, which have signed an agreement with the ICO for this financing line, who will decide on the granting of the loan, with the risk of the operation.

(e) Line Vigency: the time limit for the provision of funds shall end on 31 March 2004.

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, paragraph (a), of the Royal Decree Law 12/1995, of December 28, of urgent measures in budgetary, tax and financial matters, and, in its virtue, the bankruptcy that for the ICO implies the differential between the market cost of obtaining the resources and the type The budget will be used to finance the budget of the European Union.

Article 11. Cooperation with local authorities.

The holder of the Ministry of Public Administration is empowered to propose the payment of the grants referred to in Article 2, in the part financed by the General Administration of the State, up to an amount of 400,000 This appropriation is to be used for the purposes of Article 4 (1) of the European Council of the European Community.

Similarly, the holder of the Ministry of Public Administrations is empowered to establish the procedure for the granting of the aforementioned grants, their monitoring and control, in the framework of the economic cooperation of the State to the investments of the local entities.

Article 12. Inter-ministerial committee.

1. An Inter-ministerial Commission is hereby established for the implementation of the measures established in this royal decree, coordinated by the Directorate General for Civil Protection, and made up of representatives of the Ministries of the Presidency, of the Interior, Economic, Finance, Development, Labour and Social Affairs, Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Public Administrations, as well as the Government Delegate in the Autonomous Community of Extremadura and a representative of the Consortium of Insurance Compensation.

2. The follow-up of the measures provided for in this royal decree will be carried out by the Commission referred to in the previous paragraph, in coordination with the authorities of the Autonomous Community of Extremadura, through the Government Delegation.

Article 13. Insurance Compensation Consortium.

1. The Government Delegate in the Autonomous Community of Extremadura will request from the Insurance Compensation Consortium the corresponding valuations provided for in this royal decree, provided that they do not affect public property.

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 granted, 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 Government of the Autonomous Community of Extremadura and with other public administrations the collaboration agreements that demand the application of this royal decree.

Additional disposition first. Powers of the Autonomous Community of Extremadura.

What is established in this royal decree is without prejudice to the powers that correspond to that autonomous community under the terms of its autonomy status.

Additional provision second. Limit of the aid.

The value of the aid to be granted under this royal decree law, in respect 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, by the same concepts, may be granted by other administrations, public bodies, national or international, or which correspond under insurance policies.

Additional provision third. Budget appropriations.

The repair of damage to state property will be financed from the budgets of the respective ministerial departments, for which the necessary credit transfers will be made, without the limitations contained in Article 70 of the recast text of the General Budget Law, approved by the Royal Legislative Decree 1091/1988 of 23 September 1988, are applicable.

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

In the municipal terms affected by the fires, in preference, the total amount of the total amount of the aid for the repayment of the principal of the loans received may be paid in advance. to Royal Decree 613/2001 of 8 June for the improvement and modernisation of the structures of agricultural holdings, of those dossiers for which the corresponding final certification of commitments and implementation is available of investments.

Final disposition first. Powers of development.

The government and the various ministers of the ministerial departments, in the field of their competences, will dictate the necessary provisions and set the deadlines for the implementation of the provisions of this royal decree.

Final disposition second. Entry into force.

This royal decree law will enter into force on the same day as its publication in the "Official State Gazette".

Dado en Madrid, a 21 de novembro de 2003.

JOHN CARLOS R.

The President of the Government,

JOSÉ MARÍA AZNAR LÓPEZ