Government outlines emergency plan for Spanish businesses after Thomas Cook collapse

the acting Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, has announced that the Government has approved the extension of 50% discounts in Social Security contributions for fixed contracts in the months of October and December after the collapse of tour operator Thomas Cook.

This measure, designed to promote employment, will be extended to all new contracts in the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, will take be tabled at tomorrow's cabinet meeting, which aims to address problems arising from the collapse of the Thomas Cook travel empire.

These discounts are already in place for the months of February, March and November, and with this proposal the government seeks to make an extension to incentivise continous employment in seasonal occupations.

"There will be more employment measures to come," said Maroto, who stressed the importance of keeping tourist sector workers in employment after the fall of the tour company.

Another matter to be discussed tomorrow will be the need to talk to other airlines "as soon as possible" in order to mobilize the volume of visitors that has been lost as a result of the Thomas Cook crisis.

On Tuesday, after meeting with the Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce for the Canary Islands, Yaiza Castilla, British airline Jet2.com and its tour operator Jet2holidays announced that they will offer 168,000 additional seats between the United Kingdom and the Canary Islands after the recent bankruptcy of Thomas Cook.

The airline will be offering a total of 800,000 seats (including those already scheduled and the new ones announced) during the winter season (from October to March) for the Canary Islands and will increase the number of tickets offered "to reach one million seats in August of 2020 ", Castilla confirmed. 

Another issue to be addressed at the cabinet meeting will be the help offered to businesses left with heavy debts as a result of Thomas Cook's bankruptcy.

As part of the global response to Thomas Cook's demise, Maroto has promised that the Spanish government will look into implementing financial measures to address these problems so that businesses are given the chance to recover from these losses in the medium term.