The Spanish Government agrees to increase the minimum wage by 8% by 2023

The Spanish government has decided to increase the minimum wage by 8% by 2023.

The increase will mean that close to 2.5 million wage/low wage workers will receive €1,080 gross per month at 14 payment facilities.

The Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, said that the increase “is not just another piece of information” but rather “allows people to change their lives.”

The increase will apply retroactively from January 1.

People are feeling the effects of rising inflation that is hitting households across the country hard.

This year began with a rise in inflation to 5.9%, with clothing and transportation leading the rise in January.

Inflation has risen steadily since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in March last year.

The minimum wage in Spain (SMI or Salario Mínimo Interprofesional) has risen by 46.8% since 2019, with an initial rise of 22.3% during the first term of President Pedro Sánchez, as well as a rise of 20% during the four years of the mandate of the PSOE-Unidas Podemos coalition government.

The SMI was created in Spain in 1963 when the rate was 1,800 pesetas per month (about €10.8) and remained frozen for the next three years.

Since then it has been updated annually and sometimes, especially in cases of high inflation, twice a year.

Since 1980, after the approval of the Workers’ Rights Statute, the SMI has been reviewed annually after consultation between trade unions and business organizations.

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