The Government will facilitate the processing of the cessation of activity for self-employed workers affected by forest fires. While approving a new benefit for workers affected by the fires, the Council of Ministers also gave the green light this Tuesday to another package of measures focused on self-employed workers and companies damaged by the fires ravaging the country. Thus, according to the Ministry of Social Security announced this Wednesday, self-employed workers who cease their activity totally or partially, definitively or temporarily, in the affected municipalities may apply for the cessation of activity benefit “without the need to provide documents proving the existence of force majeure.”
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In addition to all workers registered in the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (RETA), self-employed workers who have a reduced fee for starting activity and those registered in the Special Regime for Sea Workers and in the regime for agricultural self-employed workers will benefit from this measure, explained the department led by the Government spokesperson, Elma Saiz.
As usual, the mutual insurance companies collaborating with Social Security or the Social Institute of the Navy will make the provisional recognition of the cessation of activity benefit retroactively, if necessary, with effects from July 22, 2026, or from the date on which the cessation actually occurred. The body specifies that “proof of the impossibility to carry it out will not be required, without prejudice to the fact that the managing body may request it later from the beneficiary.”
The payment period for this benefit will extend for a maximum of four months and will not count towards consuming the maximum periods to receive this aid. Furthermore, if the self-employed person decides to definitively cease their activity after these four months, they may receive, if they meet the requirements, the ordinary benefit. This benefit cannot be subject to seizure.
On the other hand, companies domiciled in the municipalities affected by the emergency caused by the fires, and to which a temporary employment regulation file (ERTE) is authorized due to having their operation impeded or limited, may benefit from a 100% exemption from the payment of the employer’s contribution to social security contributions. This exemption covers common contingencies, professional contingencies, and joint collection concepts in the fees from August to November, both inclusive. It will apply to the contributions accrued by workers whose activities are suspended and for the periods and percentages of the working day affected by the suspension or reduction.
