Sixteen per cent of Catalan family businesses run the risk of shutting down in 2020 due to restrictions on activity caused by the Covid-19 pandemic according to estimates by the Catalan Association of Family Businesses (ASCEF), its President, Amadeu Jori, told the EFE news agency.

He said that ASCEF is calling on the Government for greater coordination and contact with social agents “who are the ones who really know first-hand what is happening.”

Mr Jori also asked administrations to provide financial injections to companies in difficulty, “not only with loans but with direct subsidies” as has been done in other European countries. “If economic activity is restricted in order to protect health, measures must be taken to prevent economic activity from collapsing,” he said.

The news was echoed in the media, both in general outlets such as La Vanguardia, Diari Ara and El País, and economic ones such as Expansión.