Nearly half of the central government funds allocated to Aragon to help its SMEs and self-employed people hardest hit by the pandemic’s economic shock remained unspent. Specifically, €71.7 million, or 50.7% of the €141.3 million set aside, had not been allocated. Information provided to this newspaper by the Ministry of the Treasury confirms that some autonomous communities had already returned portions of these funds to the State. The Regional Administration successfully disbursed two rounds of aid, distributing €69.6 million to 4,205 beneficiary companies, in line with the requirements established by the Ministry of Economic Affairs to channel the extraordinary fund to support commercial solvency, as outlined in Royal Decree 5/2021. (Cited by Ministry of the Treasury)
DGA attempted to prevent a third distribution round for the surplus. It reached an agreement at the end of December 2021 with the hospitality sector and business associations to use unspent Madrid funds for a new, more flexible aid model. The effort proved unsuccessful, and in June of the following year Pignatelli transferred the surplus back to the Public Treasury. (Cited by Ministry of the Treasury)
In the first direct-aid call, opened in June 2021, the Government of Aragon allocated €47.1 million to roughly 2,600 companies. Four months later a second round followed, after the ministry approved changes to grant terms, distributing €19 million to about 1,600 beneficiaries. Almost €4 million more went to firms after receiving the necessary approvals for the applications submitted. (Cited by Ministry of the Treasury)
On the national level, autonomous communities repaid about 25% of the funds back to the State, totaling around €1.7 billion of the €7 billion allocated. The Balearic and Canary Islands received the largest sums in absolute terms due to their tourism-heavy economies. Aragon, like several other regions, faced a balance between urgent support needs and the administrative realities of distributing aid. Regions with larger, more productive economic fabrics—Madrid and Catalonia, for example—reported higher repayment rates but still returned substantial sums: €103 million and €137 million, respectively. Some regions, such as Castilla-La Mancha, Murcia, the Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias, and Valencia, returned more than half of their funds; Navarra and La Rioja were in the third category, and Galicia returned about a quarter. (Cited by Ministry of the Treasury)
The figures highlight the challenges of a public assistance line designed to offset losses from health restrictions and related disruptions, especially for sectors like hospitality. Access to money was slower in practice than in several European peers, and when approvals happened, they often came with stringent conditions that significantly limited which companies could apply for subsidies. Entrepreneurs and self-employed individuals have warned that the quickest routes to aid were inaccessible to many in need due to these restrictive criteria. The Government of Aragon echoed these criticisms, with Finance Minister Carlos Pérez Anadón sending multiple letters to Nadia Calviño and María Jesús Montero, urging looser conditions and faster processing. (Cited by Ministry of the Treasury)
In response, authorities broadened eligibility to cover 491 economic activities, extending the period available for seeking aid as far as permitted by the central government. The Treasury Department of the DGA, which manages these funds, emphasizes that the criteria for distributing aid—and the scope of action—are determined by the ministry led by Vice President Nadia Calviño. The aim is to refine and demonstrate effective management within the tight deadlines set from Madrid. (Cited by Ministry of the Treasury)
The DGA also pressed to loosen and expand all possible options under the royal decree that governs this support line for businesses, including expanding the National Code of Economic Activity CNAE classifications—from the initial 95 to 491 approved by Aragon—and extending submission deadlines. The goal was to encourage a second call and extend the measure’s reach to as many companies and freelancers as possible. (Cited by Ministry of the Treasury)