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Date Published: 01/02/2023

ARCHIVED - Spain increases minimum wage by 8 per cent

ARCHIVED ARTICLE -

The monthly salary in Spain will rise to 1,080 euros and be retroactively applied to January payrolls

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Spain increases minimum wage by 8 per cent

In a major boost to the purchasing power of workers in Spain, President Sanchez has announced that the minimum wage will be increased by 8% to 1,080 euros per month, which will be applied as usual in 14 payments. This is on the high end of the scale proposed by the Ministry of Labour and will mark Spain as the second country in the OECD that has increased the minimum interprofessional salary (SMI) the most.

“Our fight to improve the conditions of workers and achieve a fairer distribution has just begun," the president said, highlighting that since 2018, Spain has raised the SMI by 47%, going from a paltry 736 euros to 1,080.

Although the major unions rubber stamped the increase, representatives of the employers once again refused to be part of the negotiations. Business owners and companies have failed to endorse a pay rise for the third time, even as President Sanchez reproached the large corporations whose profits continue to grow, yet “do not increase the salary of their employees.”

It will now take a couple of weeks for the pay increase to go through the Council of Ministers but once approved, the increase will be applied retroactively to January payrolls. According to the unions, the considerable salary bump will impact some 2.5 million workers, around 14% of Spain’s wage earners.

Spain now has the eighth highest minimum wage in Europe, but is still quite a distance behind neighbours like Germany, which pays staff a monthly salary of 1,703 euros in 14 payments. France, on the other hand, has set a minimum wage of 1,465 euros in 12 payments.

In other news: Climate change threatens the future of Iberian ham in Spain

Image: Pixabay

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