The Council of Ministers today approved the new regulation of the Fund for the Competitiveness of Tourism Companies (FOCIT), currently endowed with 565 million euros, and which will be aimed at financing, with loans, projects of companies that improve the competitiveness of the sector tourism, especially those that contain digitalization, accessibility, energy efficiency and circular economy actions.
The regulatory development of this Fund is one of the reforms provided for in the National Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, specifically, it is part of the modernization and competitiveness plan of the tourism sector or component 14.
Beneficiaries
Self-employed or self-employed workers registered with the Social Security or mutual benefit of the corresponding Professional Association, as well as private commercial companies that carry out a tourist activity, will be able to take advantage of these loans.
The Autonomous Communities will be in charge of summoning, processing and resolving the requests, as corresponds since they have the competences in the field of tourism. However, and due to the fact that it is a single Fund, the Tourism Sector Conference will agree on the mechanism for the calls and processing of the files to be carried out in a coordinated manner.
At the proposal of the Secretary of State for Tourism, the Tourism Sector Conference will also agree on the evaluation criteria for applications and, valid for two years, the calendar for calls and loan processing.
Under the terms agreed at the Sector Conference, projects that promote the digitization of tourism companies such as the development of mass digitization tools, the adoption of digital solutions that facilitate sales, mobile digital solutions, application of big data, development of electronic commerce, design of digital strategies, home automation and sensorization, data capture and analysis, virtual reality or network security and electronic services, among others.
Projects destined to modernize tourism companies based on the construction or renovation of tourism infrastructures, with preferential attention to actions framed in the field of accessibility, energy efficiency and the circular economy (management of waste, renewable energy, water reuse, emission reduction, carbon footprint and certifications, term insulation, sustainable transport …)
Loan conditions
Loans may be granted against the Fund, the financial conditions of which (interest rate, repayment period, grace period, maximum amount, etc.) will be determined by order of the head of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, prior agreement of the Government Delegate Commission for Economic Affairs. The type of assignment of loans to financial institutions will be the lower of the rate established in the aforementioned order and the assignment interest rate in force at any given time in the ICO line for companies and entrepreneurs, for the corresponding repayment and grace period. in the fixed rate modality.
The loans granted will finance, a maximum, up to 75% of the bankable cost of the projects, without the amount financed being able to exceed the figure of six million euros, or the figure of the net equity accredited of the company in the last approved accounts.
The amount of the loans will be used to cover expenses that are directly related to the development of the financed project such as, for example, personnel expenses, costs of instruments and inventory material or costs of contractual research, technical knowledge and patents acquired or obtained by license from external sources at market prices.