MADRID: A request for seaplanes needed to fight forest fires is red-flagged because it could harm the environment. Companies seeking aid after being hammered by Covid are asked to show proof of a healthy balance sheet in recent years.
They are among the discordant calls made by Spanish and EU bureaucrats as Spain’s drive to hand out €77 billion ($84 billion) in grants from EU pandemic recovery funds becomes mired in complexity, according to interviews with business associations, government officials, companies and consultants.
Spain is the EU pilot project for disbursing grants from the largest stimulus package in the bloc’s history, an overall pot of…
