This year Adeje will spend €88.4 million - €90.5 million. The council will readjust investments, continue to offer flexible payment schemes for local taxes for families in difficulties, reduce certain taxes such as rubbish collection, and use the 2019 budget surplus.
This important financial injection into the local economy will come from two sources: the ordinary budgetary funds and use of the 2019 surplus, which is about €10 million. The use of this latter source of money hasn’t been done prior to 2020 and the council will be using the maximum allowed under law, to address social emergencies – €2 million - and invest in sustainable economies. €8 million will go towards the reactivation of the sectors most hit by the crisis and to propel the revival of small and medium businesses which will also stimulate the economy.
Councillor for the development of territory local development and employment, Manuel Luis Méndez, commented, “one of the priorities in the creation of this year’s budget estimates has been the creation and protection of employment and Adeje businesses, many of whom having already benefited from a specialised consultation during these months, and taking into account the situation of the many workers who have contacted the department. Our motivation is to recover, improve and defend out productive sector and uphold the diversification of the economy so that the recovery can be progressive, safe and beneficial”.
The sections of the budget that have increased most are those relating to employment training, and help to avoid job loss, training to increase employment potential and help for small businesses and the self-employed, with an investment of €3.6 million, a 270% increase on funding for the same sectors last year. 2019. This additional funding will be in conjunction with other administrations, and the aim is to create 400 new jobs over the coming 11 months as well as save a further 400 jobs in danger of being lost, with direct assistance to businesses and the self´-employed.
Among the projects outlined there is attention to those businesses who have during the state of emergency, with co-ordination planned between Adeje council and other administrations, such as the Tenerife Cabildo. There are also courses to adapt to the new digital economy already open for registration, such as IT training, online sales, etc. This kind of training was already being offered but has been adapted somewhat to the new needs and measures that are now in place as a result of Covid-19.
Adeje council is looking to use €8 million from the budget surplus in sustainable investments, rolling out a number of different investments in small and medium infrastructures. The money will also be used to improve public spaces and in projects designed to reactivate the economy, avoid the collapse of local companies and recoup existing jobs.
There are plans for the evolution of ‘green’ employment, based in what is now the Parque Central, as an essential element for the future of the borough. Another project to generate employment will be hiring people to work on embellishment of neighbourhoods in Adeje, with the strong involvement of residents in each zone. Converting neighbourhoods into shared community spaces will be one of the main objectives of this plan.
The following project will see work on the elimination of architectural barriers in public buildings and zones where people with reduced mobility have difficulties.
All of these employment plans will be carried out by the Adeje council and the council funding, with contracts for up to 200 people, and we hope to be able to double that number when conventions with the Cabildo and the regional government have been agreed upon.
In parallel with these employment plans there are three alternative training programmes (PFAE) in creation, underwritten by the Canarian employment services and the Adeje council. One will be in bar and restaurant work for those over 30, there will be a course in lifesaving for under 30s and one in socio-cultural entertainment for under 30s. All in all 45 people who are currently unemployed (15 on each course) will be one these courses lasting 11 months and paying 75% of a minimum wage.
Companies and the Coronavirus
At the end of 2019 Adeje had 2,230 self-employed workers and 1,164 merchant businesses, and in March of this year the council did send a questionnaire to companies asking how they were faring since the state of emergency was declared. To date 300 replies have been received, which are helping the relevant departments assess how the current measures in place are affecting the commercial life of the borough.
The main objective was to help companies clarify the difficulties the many of the new measures were creating, and the council also sought to see which companies would now look to sell online offering help where they could. Over 100 companies signed up and are using the Adeje platform to sell to the consumer, and that option is still open to companies to use today. The council has also been helping those Adeje-based workers who have found themselves unemployed or on the ERTE as a result of the state of emergency, and to date has carried out over 1,000 consultations over the phone or online.
