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ECONOMY

€965 a month: Spanish government announces small rise in minimum wage

The Spanish government and workers' unions have agreed to raise the minimum inter-professional salary (SMI) to €965 gross per month.

Published: 17 September 2021 10:44 CEST
€965 a month: Spanish government announces small rise in minimum wage
Photo: Jacqueline Macou / Pixabay

The rise will be retroactive from September 1st 2021, so that workers who receive the minimum wage will see it reflected in the next payroll.

The agreement was finalised at 9pm Thursday night, when the Ministry of Labor reported in a statement that the minimum wage would rise by 1.6 percent. This means unfreezing the SMI, which had been set at €950 since January 1st, 2020.  

The rise of €15 however, is lower than the rate of inflation, which so far exceeds three percent, meaning that those on minimum wage have already lost purchasing power.

The increase is in the middle of the range that the government’s committee of experts recommended for 2021. 

Although the amount of €965 was finally agreed upon by both the government and the unions, the pact was held up throughout the day on Thursday because unions demanded that the government also specify future increases in 2022 and 2023. 

Earlier on Thursday general secretary of Workers’ Commissions (CCOO), Unai Sordo, said that the government should commit to increasing the SMI to €1,000 in January 2022 and that there should be another increase in January 2023.

The statement issued by the Ministry of Labour only said that this rise means “advancing in the commitment” shared by the government and unions so that the SMI reaches €1,049 euros in 2023, but did not specify when the next increases would be.  

“[The agreement] is positive, despite the moderate increase of €15 euros for 2021. The government has taken the average of the proposal of the commission of experts. It’s less than we expected, but we consider that the position of the Executive to increase the minimum wage is on the right track,” Mariano Hoya, deputy secretary of union policy at Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) said.

The employers’ associations are not part of the agreement and rejected any increase outright. Antonio Garamendi, president of the Confederación Española de Organizaciones Empresariales (CEOE), insisted that raising the SMI will cause “less employment” and “more underground economy.” He also criticised the plan for more increases in the next few years.

The rise in the minimum wage has caused issues within the government coalition in recent months. Both Prime Minister Sánchez and Deputy Prime Minister Calviño opted to freeze SMI, while Deputy Prime Minister Díaz was in favour of increasing it.

READ ALSO: Why the Bank of Spain believes raising the minimum wage will hurt job creation

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HEALTH

How many hours do I have to work to get access to public healthcare in Spain?

A common question among those wanting to move to Spain is if they will have access to the Spanish public healthcare system even if they only work part time or a few hours a week.

Published: 23 April 2024 10:57 CEST
How many hours do I have to work to get access to public healthcare in Spain?

In order to understand the answer to this question, you need to be aware of several rules on who has the right to public healthcare in Spain. 

In Spain, you have the right to access public healthcare under the following circumstances:

  • You are an employee or self-employed and are affiliated and registered with the social security system
  • You receive Spain’s state pension
  • You are the recipient of benefits, including unemployment benefits or subsidies.
  • You have exhausted your unemployment benefit or subsidy or other benefits of a similar nature and are unemployed and residing in Spain
  • Children under the age of 15
  • Students under the age of 26

You also have the right to healthcare if your spouse pays into the social security system or if you’re pregnant.

READ ALSO: Does permanent residency in Spain equal free public healthcare?

But what happens if you are an employee, but you only work part-time, does the number of hours you work affect whether you have the right to public healthcare coverage?

Even if you work part-time (or media jornada in Spanish), you will still be paying into the social security system automatically – part of it from your salary and part of it from your employer.

Therefore you will be affiliated in the social security system as in point one above. 

According to stats from Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE), a total of 6.6 percent of men in Spain in 2022 worked part-time and 21.6 percent of women. In September 2023, there were 2.9 million part-time employees in the country.

As far as social security is concerned, those who work part-time benefit the same as those working full-time when it comes to national healthcare, regardless of the length of their day. Part-time contributions count as one full day when it comes to paying social security.

READ ALSO: What to be aware of before accepting a part-time job in Spain

This rule, equating part-time work to full-time work was brought into force on October 1st 2023 in order to try and help reduce the gender pay gap in Spain, but was designed with the pension system in mind rather than national health coverage.

The advantage is that it also benefits those who want to work part-time and still be able to access healthcare. Even before this was brought into force, however, those working part-time and paying social security were still covered. 

All this means that there isn’t a specific number of hours you must work in order to be able to be covered under the Spanish healthcare system, and as long as you’re paying social security or fall into one of the categories above, you will be able to benefit from it.

Remember that if you’re not employed or self-employed in Spain and don’t have a spouse who is either, then you may not be covered.

To get around this you can either join a programme such as the S1 scheme for British pensioners or pay the convenio especial in order to benefit from public healthcare. For this, you will pay a monthly fee of €60 if you are under 65 and €157 if you are over 65. 

If none of these options are available to you or the requirements of your visa say so, then it’s necessary to get private health insurance instead.

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