Anthony Piovesan
The Spanish government has decided to increase the minimum wage by 8% for 2023.
The raise will mean about 2.5 million low/salary workers will receive €1,080 gross per month in 14 payments installations.
Labour minister Yolanda Diaz said the increase ‘is not just another piece of information’ but ‘makes it possible to change people’s lives’.
The increase will be applied retroactively from January 1.
People are feeling the pinch as rising inflation hits households hard across the country.
This year started with a rise in inflation to 5.9%, with clothing and transport leading the rise in January.
Inflation has risen steadily since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started in March last year.
The minimum wage in Spain (SMI or Salario Minimo Interprofessional) has risen by 46.8% since 2019, with an initial 22.3% increase during the first term of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government, as well as a rise of 20% during the four years of the PSOE-Unidas Podemos coalition government’s term in office.
The SMI was created in Spain in 1963 when the rate was at a monthly 1,800 pesetas (some €10.8) and remained frozen for the following three years.
It has since been updated annually, and sometimes, especially in cases of high inflation, twice a year.
Since 1980, after the approval of the Statue of Workers Rights, the SMI is revised annually after consultations between trade unions and employers’ organisations.
READ MORE:
- Spanish Embassy workers in UK call ‘indefinite strike’ in lower-than-minimum wage protest
- Spain’s Primera Division female players secure minimum wage deal
- Spain’s minimum wage set to rise so long as current economic growth is sustained
