Melilla is an autonomous Spanish city of 12.3 km2, located in North Africa, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It limits to the east with the Alboran Sea and to the north and west with the province of Nador (Morocco).
From a political point of view, Melilla has a self-government regime and enjoys autonomy for the management of its interests and full capacity to comply with its fines, in accordance with what is established in the Fifth Transitory Provision of the Constitution and in the terms approved in its Statute of autonomy.
COMMUNICATIONS
Despite its location outside the peninsula, Melilla has modern communication infrastructures; it is very well connected by sea and air with the Iberian Peninsula and by land with Morocco.
Two airlines operate at Melilla airport, Iberia-Air Nostrum and Air Europa. There are flights to Melilla from the airports of Malaga (55 minutes), Granada (50 minutes), Madrid (one hour and 50 minutes) and Seville (one hour and 10 minutes) and occasionally from Barcelona, Valencia, Palma de Mallorca and Gran Canaria.
Regarding maritime transport, the shipping companies Balearia, FRS and Trasmediterránea operate in Melilla with daily ferries to Malaga, Almería and Motril.
Melilla is also connected by road with the province of Nador (Morocco), through the border crossing point of Beni Enzar.
HISTORy
The city has a rich history. Joining the crown of Castile in 1497. Melilla has very unique signs of identity, which are conditioned and, at the same time, enriched, by the multiculturalism of its society and its historical heritage.
In Melilla, as a result of its geographical position, its history and its economic activity, three communities coexist in full harmony (Christians, Muslims and Jews).
DEMOGRAPHY
The city has a population of more than 86,000 inhabitants and a hinterland that extends throughout eastern Morocco, with more than 2 million inhabitants.
INFRASTRUCTURES
Its population is very young and it has a good number of nurseries (public and private) and primary schools, that depend on the Autonomous City of Melilla; and secondary schools, dependent on the Ministry of Education through the Territorial Directorate of Education of Melilla. It also has several faculties of the University of Granada and an associated centre of the National University of Distance Education (UNED) with more than thirty degrees.
HERITAGE
The city has a rich heritage, it has a fortified city, built between the 16th and 18th centuries, equipped with warehouses, cisterns, bastions, moats, forts, which make it the most complete and best-preserved on this shore of the Mediterranean.
In addition to the enormous importance that the coexistence of the four cultures brings to the present of Melilla, we must not forget the privileged situation that the city has historically had and it has managed to preserve the important legacies that Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines and Arabs left.
As if these legacies were few, Melilla has more than 900 modernist and “art deco” buildings. The “Ensanche de Melilla” is considered, along with Barcelona, as one of the best exponents of the Spanish modernist style of the early twentieth century.
All this has turned Melilla into a unique architectural museum as diverse as it is exotic and different.
DELEGACIÓN DEL GOBIERNO EN MELILLA
Avenida De la Marina Española, 3. 52001 – Melilla
Teléfono: 95 299 10 00
CIUDAD AUTÓNOMA DE MELILLA
Plaza de España, s/n, Palacio de la Asamblea Melilla (Melilla)
952 69 91 00
AUTORIDAD PORTUARIA DE MELILLA
Dirección: Av. Marina Española, 4, 52001 Melilla
Teléfono: 952 67 36 00
https://www.puertodemelilla.es/
AENA
Dirección: Ctra. de Yasinen, s/n, 52005 Melilla
Teléfono: 913 21 10 00
PROYECTO MELILLA SAU
Dirección: Calle Dalia, 36, 52006 Melilla
Teléfono: 952 67 98 04
www.promesa.net
PATRONATO DE TURISMO DE MELILLA
Calle Fortuny, 21, 52004 Melilla
Teléfono: 952 97 61 51
Melilla has convincing arguments that make it a “unique” city for business activity.
- Exceptional geographical location, between Europe and Africa
- Free port, duty free
Privileged tariff regime, given its exclusion from the EU customs union and its consideration as a “Free Port” which implies exemption from VAT, customs duties and other rights to the entry of products.
- Connectivity
There is FTTH fibre connection all across the urban area of Melilla. It is possible to choose any location and establishment in any neighbourhood of the city with the guarantee of connectivity for your business. As a differentiating aspect with respect to other territories, Melilla has had a second Fibre Optic cable owned by the Autonomous City since the end of 2014.
- Technology Centre
The facilities of the City’s Information Technology and Communications Technology Centre opened its doors in March 2015, with the aim of becoming a driving centre to support initiatives in the field of ICT.
The Technology Centre has classrooms, laboratories and spaces dedicated to promoting technology.
https://ideasmelilla.openfuture.org/
5. Agency for Employment and Local Development (AEDL)
AEDL is a program dedicated to the promotion and implementation of active employment policies related to the creation of business activity.
Its functions include: prospecting business projects for local economic promotion and innovative initiatives for the generation of employment at the local level, identifying new economic activities and potential entrepreneurs; the technical support in the initiation of business projects for their consolidation as companies that generate new jobs, advising and informing on the technical, economic and financial viability and, in general, on the launch plans of the companies and the support for developers of the companies, once they have been established, technically accompanying them during the first stages of operation, through the application of consulting techniques in business management and assistance in the appropriate training processes to contribute to the smooth running of the companies created.
- Corporation Tax: rebates of 50%
- Personal income tax: 60% rebate
- Inheritance and Donation Tax: 50% rebate, raising the rebate percentage to 99% for “mortis causa” acquisitions in the event that the successors are the spouse, ascendants or descendants.
- Patrimonial Transmissions and Documented Legal Acts: rebate of 50%
- Labour advantages. Up to 50% rebate in employer contributions to Social Security for companies and self-employed workers. (TAS / 471/2004)
- Indirect taxation
No VAT. Instead, a local tax is applied with rates between 0.50% and 10%, In any case, among others; the following services are taxed at 0.5%:
– Advertising and marketing services.
– The services that are provided electronically.
– Complementary management services for carrying out gaming activities that constitute the taxable events for taxes on gaming and random combinations.
- Exemption from Special Taxes on Alcohol, Tobacco Labours and Hydrocarbons
- Municipal taxes: rebate of 50%
- Rebate of 75% to transportation for residents of Melilla.
SPECIAL TAX BENEFITS FOR COMMERCIAL COMPANIES
The current Law 27/2014 on Corporation Tax, in its article 33, regulates bonuses for income earned in Melilla
“Article 33. Rebates for income earned in Melilla”
- The part of the full quota corresponding to the income obtained in Melilla by entities that effectively and materially operate in said territories will have a 50% rebate.
The entities referred to in the preceding paragraph will be the following:
- a) Spanish entities registered for tax purposes in said territories.
- b) Spanish entities registered for tax purposes outside said territories and that operate in them through an establishment or branch.
- c) Foreign entities not resident in Spain and operating in said territories through permanent establishment.
- Income obtained in Melilla shall be understood to be those that correspond to activities that determine in said territories the closing of a commercial cycle with economic results.
3. The income from wholesale trade shall be understood to have been obtained in Melilla when this activity is organized, directed, contracted and invoiced through a fixed place of business located in said territory that has the material and personal means necessary for it.
MELILLA DESTINO DE INVERSIÓN (Download document)
To invest in Melilla, the city has its own 7 existing aid regimes for both investment and job creation, which are managed through the Public Corporation Proyecto Melilla.
These aids are:
1.Aid for Investment with Job Creation in Small and Medium Enterprises. (co-financed with the ERDF)
It is the most important of the aids, both for the scope of the budget and for the amount of the subsidy.
These grants are aimed at SMEs, whatever their legal form, as long as stable employment is created, both for new facilities and expansions that include a modernization and / or specialization of the company.
The amounts of these grants can reach up to 45% of the eligible investment for small companies, and up to 35% of the eligible investment for medium-sized companies, with a limit of € 45,000 per job and an interest subsidy of up to five interest rate points.
Thus, an entrepreneur who wants to create a company with an investment of € 500,000 and create five jobs, may receive a maximum aid of € 225,000.
- Investment Aid, for Companies that obtain or improve their quality systems (co-financed with the ERDF)
Aimed at SMEs, which are already established in the previous year and intend to implement and certificate quality systems.
The amount of these grants is up to 40% of the eligible investment and up to five points of the lender’s interest rate. The maximum total grant per project, capital, interests and external collaborations is € 40,000.
3.Aid for Investment in Microenterprises (co-financed with the ERDF)
For companies located in the Autonomous City of Melilla with less than 10 workers or with a business volume or annual balance that does not exceed 2 million euros, with a minimum of one year of operation, that intend to carry out investment projects in modernization in the Autonomous City of Melilla.
The amount of this aid is up to 40% of the eligible investment with a limit of € 30,000 per project.
4.Aid for the Promotion of Employment and Self-employment in Melilla (co-financed with the ESF)
The hiring of workers will be subsidized according to the type of contract and working hours, increasing by 10% if women are hired. It will be also subsidized the creation of companies through self-employed workers, as well as conversion of temporary contracts in indefinite.
5.Aid for the Adaptation, Improvement, Expansion and / or Modernization of Commercial and Service Premises (funds from the Autonomous City of Melilla)
For SMEs that invest a maximum of € 14,000.00
The maximum amount that can be granted per investment project and beneficiary will be € 8,000.00 corresponding to:
– 75% on the investment for those companies between 1 and 3 workers
– 60% on the investment for those companies with more than three workers.
- Aid for Hiring in Job Placement Plans for Unemployed in Melilla (funds from the Autonomous City of Melilla)
For companies with legal status, natural person acting as an entrepreneur, Foundations of Law 50/2002, of December 26, Sports Federations, Professional Associations, other Associations and Organizations representing economic and social sectors, and non-profit related organizations and dedicated to caring for people with disabilities and / or caring for people who are victims of gender violence.
The type of aid to be subsidized may reach up to 100% of labour expenses for a maximum time of twelve months for hiring for others, the minimum duration will be 6 months and is not intended to replace a permanent worker.
7.Aid for the Creation, Expansion and Diversification of SMEs (funds of the Autonomous City of Melilla)
Intended for SMEs to subsidize rents, project investment, self-employment and bank interest subsidy.
The maximum amount is 25,000 euros per project.
- Regional incentives. These aids are granted by the General State Administration and are intended for large investments, the types of aid being up to 25% for large companies, up to 35% for medium and small companies up to 45%.
Note: These grants correspond to the 2014-20 operational program, with the operational program for the 2021-2027 period yet to be approved. Therefore, the conditions and amounts of the aid co-financed by the ERDF, ESF, and own funds are not yet set for the new period.
Melilla is a Spanish city with an area of just over 12 km2, a resident population of about 85,000 inhabitants, as well as a significant floating population; it also has an area of influence of more than 500,000 inhabitants (North-eastern part of Morocco).
Melilla is traditionally a city of services, with a strong weight of the administration, in which commerce has stood out as the main industry, given its status as a free port since the mid-nineteenth century. Given its area of influence, with an increasing economic capacity and a flourishing Moroccan middle class, new market niches are being opened such as health or leisure. However, given the peculiarities and uniqueness of Melilla, the City Government is committed to sectors that can be key to the city’s economy, such as tourism or new technologies.
1.Tourism
The autonomous city of Melilla is committed to this sector as a pillar of its economy, since it has great potential, highlighting:
-Sun and beach tourism. Melilla has a mild climate throughout the year, as well as having long, well-kept fine sand beaches, equipped with good infrastructure and excellent services.
-Adventure tourism, given its proximity to Morocco, the Rif, Atlas and Sahara desert regions.
-Cultural tourism. The important cultural heritage of Melilla, with its fortifications and the architectural complex of the modernist expansion, as well as its enormous multicultural ethnographic attractions, allow the design of travel proposals very much in line with the current tourist demand.
-Cruise tourism. The privileged geographical location of Melilla, since it is a connection point between the African continent and Europe, the proximity to coastal cities such as Malaga, Cartagena or Valencia, the location of the port of Melilla in the very centre of the city, as well as all the heritage offer makes this type of tourism a great opportunity for the city.
-MICE tourism, especially in themes in which the city contributes a differential component such as companies with interests in the African market, in sectors related to security and defence, multicultural and third sector entities, etc.
2- Technology Sector
Melilla offers a great opportunity for this sector, since the companies that operate in this city can obtain a higher profitability than those located in other territories of the State, given the tax rebates, both for direct and indirect taxes. Thus, in Corporation Tax there is a rebate of 50% and 60% for personal income tax. VAT is not applicable in this city, but instead a local tax is applied, the IPSI, which ranges between 0.5 and 10%, with the following services being taxed at 0.5%:
– Advertising and marketing services.
– The services that are provided electronically.
– Complementary management services for carrying out gaming activities that constitute the taxable events for taxes on gaming and random combinations.
In addition to the existing tax benefits, since 2002 the City of Melilla has developed a strategy of commitment to the deployment of telecommunications infrastructures, with the firm goal of eliminating any possible barrier that may exist for the development of initiatives of any kind. type that require the use of information and communication technologies.
► Reliable Communications. Melilla has two submarine fibre optic cables, which ensures the permanent availability of telecommunications.
► Telecommunications capacity: one of the submarine cables is publicly owned, recently built, and with such high transmission capacities that it is possible to meet any need for data transmission services.
► Availability of FTTH broadband: The city has 100% fibre optic (FTTH) broadband coverage throughout the urban area, which facilitates any business initiative that requires a broadband connection.
In Melilla there is a Technology Centre that is a basic pillar in the sector, since its creation seeks to develop the Information Society in Melilla through research activities, technology transfers and training of research personnel.
In addition, from the Public Corporation Proyecto Melilla, there is a department specialized in training for workers and the unemployed, which could help train and recycle new workers in the ICT sector.
