Government apologizes following second day of IT failures for freelancers seeking aid

Government spokesperson Meritxell Budó has apologized on behalf of the executive following a second day of IT failures that affected self-employed workers applying for Covid-19 financial aid of €2,000.

"We regret that it has not gone as it should have gone and I apologize," Budó said at a press conference following Tuesday's cabinet meeting.

She explained that they had made changes to the portal to enable it to serve 15,000 users per minute but that they experienced even higher volumes of up to 18,000 users per minute, which overwhelmed the system.

Susana Segovia of the left-wing Catalunya en Comú - Podem was among those who criticized the government's handling of the emergency aid.

"The way they've managed these benefits is a failure. They're poorly thought out, designed, and enforced," she said.

Budó meanwhile said the government has "taken note" of the situation and will work "so that it does not happen again." She also called on the Spanish government to do more do support freelancers.

On Monday afternoon, the government suspended all new applications in order to attempt to strengthen its processing systems for Tuesday.

A total of €20 million was set aside for the grants, expected to benefit around 10,000 self-employed people. Applications are now closed as the budget limit has been reached.