- Large distribution provides employment, generates wealth and makes the city a more attractive place
- The City Council will soon approve an Ordinance on Economic Stimulus and Support for SMEs and Entrepreneurs, which will provide a more flexible and agile legal framework for businessmen and merchants
- Bottle also emphasizes that urban planning in Madrid has to contribute to the economic development of the city
Ana Botella, mayor of Madrid, has announced that the City Council will approve an Ordinance for Economic Stimulus and Support for SMEs and Entrepreneurs, to "eliminate administrative obstacles for the sake of economic freedom." This was stated during the closing of the General Assembly of the Association of Large Distribution Companies (ANGED) where he stressed that it is "a legislative initiative that will provide a more flexible and agile legal framework for the exercise of the activity business and, in a very special way, for commerce".
The City Council is working in this direction, “it is true that with the new state and regional laws, 9 out of 10 businesses can open with a responsible declaration. To do this in the city of Madrid you have to overcome many obstacles because all of this has to be made permeable and get all levels of an Administration, in this case the municipal one, to put it into practice».
«In this city, which has been able to carry out an urban transformation as probably only Berlin had done before, however, we have not been able to make an agile, easy, transparent licensing system, so that anyone who wants to undertake is not an obstacle and we are committed to it, "emphasized the mayor.
"Madrid must be a city where there are no obstacles to investment, neither to large investors nor to those who want to start a new business," added Botella, who is in favor of encouraging entrepreneurship and therefore "all those who start in the city of Madrid will have during the first two years a return of a series of municipal taxes through Madrid Tax Free».
For the mayor, large distribution is a very important activity for the “economy of Madrid and the daily life of citizens. It provides employment and generates wealth.
The Madrid economy is based on the service sector and the weight of this sector represented 86.9% of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and, from there, 18% corresponds to commercial activities. ANGED, one of the oldest business associations in Spain, has its headquarters in Madrid and brings together 16 large companies.
For Botella, "the capital of Spain is a center of commercial distribution" as evidenced by the 1.7 million m2 qualified for this use.
«The urban planning of Madrid – he added – has to contribute to economic development. We are making the uses more flexible »and gave as an example, the industrial estates where before it was not possible for there to be other uses such as hotels and shops and now it is. We are preparing the new plan but we are making specific modifications beforehand to make it so."
Pioneer in freeing schedules
The Madrid City Council has always supported the freedom of schedules demanded by the sector, "from the conviction that this greater autonomy not only translates into better service for citizens but also into more employment and economic activity." Between 2008 and 2011, it was a pioneer in promoting the declaration as areas of great tourist influx of some neighborhoods in the center of the city, as well as the Barajas airport area.
On the other hand, the liberalization of business hours introduced last year throughout the region has created 26,000 jobs, according to the Community of Madrid.
“Since the crisis broke out, we have all experienced difficult times and the recovery that lies ahead will continue to require a significant effort from everyone. For this reason, as we have done so far, it is essential that companies, civil society and the administration remain united to face the new stage that is finally opening in our economy", concluded the mayor./
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