Extremadura: ABANCA and BBVA will manage the loan subsidy after the fires

The Official Gazette of Extremadura (DOE) publishes this Friday, in issue 157, the agreements signed between the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Sustainable Development and the entities ABANCA Corporación Bancaria SA and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA) for the management of subsidies aimed at subsidizing interest on loans to agricultural and extensive livestock farms affected by the forest fires of summer 2025. Both agreements, signed on 4 November 2025, are made public through two resolutions of the General Secretariat, dated 6 August 2026, included in Section III, Other Resolutions.

The agreements develop Chapter IV of Decree-Law 5/2025, of 18 September, on extraordinary aid and other urgent measures for the recovery of areas affected by forest fires occurring in Extremadura during the summer of 2025 and on forest fire prevention matters. The regulation articulates a direct, extraordinary, urgent and single subsidy for subsidizing interest on loans taken out for the acquisition of working capital, and its Article 23 allows any interested financial intermediaries to act as collaborating entities, after signing the corresponding agreement, in accordance with Article 15 of Law 6/2011, on Subsidies of the Autonomous Community of Extremadura. These are agreements between the Administration and a private law entity (Article 47.2.c) of Law 40/2015), which are published in compliance with Article 19 of Decree 154/2025, of 18 November, regulating the General Register of Agreements.

Two collaborating entities

• ABANCA Corporación Bancaria SA: agreement registered as RCN202501060 (reference 2026062138), signed by Víctor Manuel Ortiz Marcos, on behalf of the entity, and by the Secretary General of the Ministry, María Concepción Montero Gómez.
• Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA): agreement registered as RCN202501061 (reference 2026062137), signed by Fernando Jesús Silva Holguín and the same representative of the Regional Government of Extremadura.
• The resolutions, signed in Mérida on 6 August 2026, bear the signature of the Secretary General David González Gil.

Beneficiaries and scope of the aid

The aid is aimed at owners of farms located in Extremadura and affected by the fires:

• agricultural farms of cherry tree, olive grove and chestnut declared as fruit tree, as well as crop associations with these;
• extensive livestock farms of bovine, ovine, caprine, porcine, equine and apicultural animals.

The status of beneficiary is non-transferable: if the owner dies or ceases due to incapacity, no subrogation in the subsidized loan is possible (Articles 21.4 and 27.6 of the Decree-Law).

What the banks will do

The collaborating entities shall be obliged, among other tasks, to:

• allocate to subsidizable loans resources commensurate with their business in the affected sectors, and may not refuse on grounds of guarantee when the operation is backed by SAECA and/or EXTRAVAL;
• verify that applicants meet the requirements of Article 25 of the Decree-Law, adapt the policies and process applications within the deadlines of Article 24.9, sending data through the ARADO platform;
• certify before the instructing body the settlement and payment of interest (Article 28) and pay the subsidies to the beneficiaries within a maximum of fifteen business days from receipt of funds, through a single special account;
• submit to the verification and control of the General Directorate of Agriculture and Livestock and keep specific accounting records.

The agreements have no economic impact of their own for the Regional Ministry, since they carry no specific budget allocation, and will remain in force until the payment of the last annual settlement of subsidized interest is completed. Their monitoring will correspond to a committee made up of the signatory parties.

The publication completes this week the deployment of agreements that the Junta has been disseminating in the DOE, following those signed with Ibercaja Banco SA and Banco Sabadell SA, published in issues 155 and 156, of 12 and 13 August. With these agreements, the cherry, olive, chestnut and extensive livestock farms damaged by the 2025 fires see the path activated for their working capital loans to have subsidized interest through the banking system, a direct financial relief for the affected farmers and livestock farmers of Extremadura.

Source: Diario Oficial de Extremadura, No. 157, Friday, 14 August 2026, section III, Other Resolutions (official references: 2026062137, RCN202501061; 2026062138, RCN202501060).