[Spain] Monthly minimum wage rising to €1,420 in 2026

Spain’s Statutory Minimum Wage (SMI) will increase to €1,420 gross a month from January 2026, Euro Weekly News reports.

Once the royal decree is published, the increase will apply retroactively from January 1. Therefore, if it lands in February, January’s shortfall must be back-paid.

The new minimum wage floor will reportedly be mandatory in every contract, including hospitality, retail, agriculture, and domestic work. Paying below the minimum wage will be illegal.
Union leaders are reportedly framing the wage bump as the government’s response to stubborn inflation and squeezed household budgets.

UGT’s Pepe Álvarez stated that wages must move faster than prices. Employers’ federation CEOE took a more cautious approach, saying it will table a position but has its eyes on another reform moving through Congress: the 37.5-hour week, which could reshape staff costs and rotas alongside the SMI rise.

€1,420 is the monthly gross used as the legal reference. On a 12-payment basis, this totals €17,040 per year. However, many Spanish contracts still spread pay across 14 instalments (with extra pay days in summer and at Christmas). In that case, the annual total remains the same, but each regular payslip is lower, and the two extras top it up.

Tax and social contributions are deducted from that figure, and the legal minimum doesn’t include complements such as length-of-service, night work or location allowances (insularity in the Canaries, Ceuta and Melilla, for example). These sit on top of the SMI.  

The rule applies to full-time and part-time employees. For part-timers, the minimum is pro-rated by hours, but the reference is still €1,420. For those working half-time, the floor is roughly €710 gross a month under a 12-payday structure, with the same logic for 14 pays.

Unions reportedly estimate that more than two million workers will be directly impacted by the rise, especially in hospitality, retail, agriculture and domestic work, but its ripple effect will be wider. 

Many collective agreements peg pay scales to the SMI. Lifting the base nudges other bands up at the next renewal. A significant factor in a country where tourism is around 13 per cent of GDP, and low-paid, seasonal roles are common.

In addition, the move brings Spain closer to France and Germany, where automatic uprating tied to inflation and the wider economy is the norm. Madrid has reportedly promised to formalise an automatic SMI update so that a new three-way negotiation between the government, unions and employers won’t be needed each year.

Source: Euro Weekly News

Spain’s Statutory Minimum Wage (SMI) will increase to €1,420 gross a month from January 2026, Euro Weekly News reports.

Once the royal decree is published, the increase will apply retroactively from January 1. Therefore, if it lands in February, January’s shortfall must be back-paid.

The new minimum wage floor will reportedly be mandatory in every contract, including hospitality, retail, agriculture, and domestic work. Paying below the minimum wage will be illegal.
Union leaders are reportedly framing the wage bump as the government’s response to stubborn inflation and squeezed household budgets.

UGT’s Pepe Álvarez stated that wages must move faster than prices. Employers’ federation CEOE took a more cautious approach, saying it will table a position but has its eyes on another reform moving through Congress: the 37.5-hour week, which could reshape staff costs and rotas alongside the SMI rise.

€1,420 is the monthly gross used as the legal reference. On a 12-payment basis, this totals €17,040 per year. However, many Spanish contracts still spread pay across 14 instalments (with extra pay days in summer and at Christmas). In that case, the annual total remains the same, but each regular payslip is lower, and the two extras top it up.

Tax and social contributions are deducted from that figure, and the legal minimum doesn’t include complements such as length-of-service, night work or location allowances (insularity in the Canaries, Ceuta and Melilla, for example). These sit on top of the SMI.  

The rule applies to full-time and part-time employees. For part-timers, the minimum is pro-rated by hours, but the reference is still €1,420. For those working half-time, the floor is roughly €710 gross a month under a 12-payday structure, with the same logic for 14 pays.

Unions reportedly estimate that more than two million workers will be directly impacted by the rise, especially in hospitality, retail, agriculture and domestic work, but its ripple effect will be wider. 

Many collective agreements peg pay scales to the SMI. Lifting the base nudges other bands up at the next renewal. A significant factor in a country where tourism is around 13 per cent of GDP, and low-paid, seasonal roles are common.

In addition, the move brings Spain closer to France and Germany, where automatic uprating tied to inflation and the wider economy is the norm. Madrid has reportedly promised to formalise an automatic SMI update so that a new three-way negotiation between the government, unions and employers won’t be needed each year.

Source: Euro Weekly News