Self-employed workers struggle to regain their footing in post-lockdown economy

Josep Xortó used to make a living as a musician and by putting on Barcelona’s underground Italo-disco Glove Party nights before the state of alarm forced business to a halt. 

But work didn’t pick up soon after it was over. Josep and his business partner, Daniele Zonzo, found Covid-19 regulations hard to follow as a smaller enterprise with fewer resources to implement them and ended up closing their company for now. This September he’s gone to Falset, in southern Catalonia, where he found seasonal work grape picking.

“I came to Falset [to harvest grapes] because it was the perfect excuse to leave Barcelona,” he explains. “And because I organized musical events that cannot be held now.”

Josep is one of the many self-employed workers who have been struggling since the pandemic hit, and although he was able to obtain state help during the state of alarm as his business involved gatherings that could no longer take place, it dried up soon after June 21 when Spain’s coronavirus state of alarm ended. 

State of alarm benefits for freelancers

Spanish, Catalan, and local authorities put in place a number of benefits for self-employed workers affected by the crisis.

The main one in Spain during the state of alarm required freelancers to demonstrate a 75% loss in income compared to their monthly averages the previous semester, making them eligible to receive at least €661 a month until June, which slightly under half of Catalonia’s 550,000 freelancers got - those who didn’t were still required to pay their monthly social security fees.