Spain’s minimum wage will rise from the current €1,050 to €1,134 gross per month, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE/S&D) announced at a rally on Saturday.
Compared to the previous minimum wage level, this represents a 5% increase and will be disbursed in 14 instalments, Sánchez said, adding that the measure is set to be approved in the Council of Ministers on Tuesday, Euractiv’s partner EFE reported.
“This is (…) what we socialists do, transforming the reality of citizens and governing for the social majority of our country”, Sánchez stressed at his party’s rally in Galicia, organised on Saturday as part of the campaign for the local elections in the region, which so far has been dominated by right-wing parties.
The increase in the minimum wage will help strengthen the “social shield” that the progressive coalition government between Sánchez’s PSOE and the left-wing Sumar platform is seeking to boost to protect the most vulnerable, the prime minister added.
Under the government of former prime minister Mariano Rajoy (Partido Popular, PP/EPP) five and a half years ago, the minimum wage in Spain was only €745 gross per month, Sánchez said. However, €745 in 2019 is worth around €910 today when adjusted for inflation.
Sánchez also stressed that Spain “is on the right track” in terms of wealth creation, recalling that the country’s GDP is already “growing five times more than the average for the eurozone”.
According to fresh data from Spain’s state-run National Statistics Institute (INE), Spain’s GDP grew by 2.5% in 2023, a tenth more than expected, while the Eurozone’s GDP grew by just 0.5% last year, according to Eurostat data.
Sánchez also noted that Spain currently has one of the “lowest inflation rates (…) in Europe (3.1%)”.
In his view, the progress made by the government – and by its previous left-wing leaders, then in alliance with the now almost defunct left-wing party Unidas Podemos – has ensured that the lives of the majority have been transformed.
A “powerful feminist policy”
“Spain is heading in the right direction, with more employment, more social policies and more coexistence than ever”, said Sánchez, referring to the imminent approval of an amnesty law to pardon unlawful actions perpetrated by Catalan separatist forces in recent years, which his government believes will serve to heal “old wounds” between Madrid and Catalonia.
The increase in the minimum wage was agreed in mid-January between the government and the country’s leading trade unions (UGT and CC.OO) but was not signed by the employers’ association (CEOE), which argued, among other things, that such an increase could have a negative impact on job creation.
Instead, the CEOE proposed a 3-4% increase in the minimum wage, accompanied by measures to promote contracts with public administrations and boost employment in the agricultural sector, among other demands.
Minimum wage saw a monthly €344.1 increase in Spain between 2018 and 2023, which is equivalent to a 46.8% rise.
Labour Minister and Sumar leader Yolanda Díaz recently assured that the minimum wage increases contribute to making “a better country”.
“It is the most powerful feminist policy ever deployed”, stressed the former Unidas Podemos leader, who is now at odds with the leadership of her former party.
(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es)
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Source: euractiv.com
