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The Ministry of Labour has reached an agreement with Spain’s main trade unions, CCOO (Confederación Sindical de Comisiones Obreras) and UGT (Unión General de Trabajadoras y Trabajadores), to raise the interprofessional minimum wage (SMI). The new amount will be €1,221 per month, paid over 14 instalments, retroactive from 1 January 2026.
Compared with 2025, the minimum wage rises from €1,184 to €1,221, giving workers €37 more per month, or approximately €518 more per year.
For the unions, this increase is crucial to protect workers’ purchasing power, while the employers’ associations (CEOE – Confederación Española de Organizaciones Empresariales and Cepyme – Confederación Española de la Pequeña y Mediana Empresa) did not support the agreement, highlighting its economic impact on small businesses.
This marks the sixth consecutive year that the Spanish government has negotiated a minimum wage increase with the trade unions without obtaining the support of the employers’ associations. The last time CEOE and Cepyme supported a national minimum wage rise was in 2020, when it went up from €900 to €950 per month.
Reform of absorption and compensation rules
To ensure that the wage increase is not offset by bonuses or other allowances, the government has announced that it will introduce a reform of absorption and compensation rules through a Royal Decree for the transposition of the European minimum wage directive (EU Directive 2022/2041).
This way, the €37 monthly increase will go directly into workers’ pockets, guaranteeing a real rise in income and protecting those working in difficult conditions.