Spain to raise minimum gross annual wage to €15,120 this year

Spain is to raise the gross minimum annual wage to €15,120 for 2023. 

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez announced the 8% increase on last year to €1,080 gross per month – 14 payments, as is customary in Spain, rather than 12, with extra payments around summer and Christmas holidays. 

The Spanish government came to an agreement with trade unions, but business associations rejected the increase. 

"With this we comply with the government's commitment to set [the minimum wage] at 60% of the average salary in Spain," Sánchez said on Tuesday afternoon in an appearance in the Senate. 

The minimum wage is currently €1,000 (14 payments per year). The increase will be applied retroactively from January 1. 

The increase of €80 per month brings the minimum wage very close to the top figure proposed by the Ministry of Labor's committee of experts, which was €1,082 per month. 

Last-minute deal

The deal with trade unions was agreed on Tuesday after a last-minute meeting between Spain's Labor minister Yolanda Díaz and the general secretaries of the CCOO and UGT unions, Unai Sordo and Pepe Álvarez. 

The Secretary of State for Labor, Joaquín Pérez Rey, had previously met with members of the two unions. Business associations did not attend the meeting. 

The Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations refused to take part in the meeting, having proposed to increase the minimum wage by 4% to 14 €1,040 gross monthly payments a year. The unions wanted an increase to €1,100. 

The Ministry of Labor's committee of experts had proposed four scenarios for raising the minimum wage, increasing by €46, €54, €66 or €82. 

Díaz celebrated the agreement on Twitter, saying it was "a very important day for workers" in Spain.  

"Thanks to the agreement with unions, we are fulfilling one of the major commitments of the legislature: to reach at least 60% of the average salary." 

Rising minimum wage 

The conservative People's Party left power in 2018 with a minimum salary of €735. 

From September 1, 2021, the minimum wage increased from €950 to €965 gross per month (14 installments) - €13,510 per year for a full-time job or €1,125 gross per month in 12 installments. 

The minimum wage rose to €1,000 per month (14 installments) from January 1, 2022, an increase of €35 per month to an annual full-time salary €14,000.