Spain proposes new €37 minimum salary rise

The Spanish government has proposed raising the minimum salary by 3.1%.

This increase would mean an increase of €37 euros gross per month, for 14 payments, to bring it to €1,221 per month. Currently, the minimum salary is €1,184 per month.

Salaries in Spain are commonly divided into 14 payments rather than 12, allowing for an 'extra payment' during the summer and at Christmas.

Secretary of State for Labor, Joaquín Pérez Rey, explained that the proposal would exclude workers who receive the minimum salary from paying taxes.

Pérez Rey said that they have been positive. said negotiations wiht unions and employers have been productive. Employers prefer to see the minimum salary increased by only 1.5%, while unions are demanding 7.5%.

The secretary said that he "confident" that employers will accept the 3.1% proposal because the possibility of "relaxing the minimum salary indexation rules in public contracts" has also been raised.

The new minimum salary, once approved, would be apllied retroactively to January 1.