Díaz commissions the minimum wage experts for a raise that takes inflation into account

MadridThe second vice president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, has set the machinery in motion to raise the minimum interprofessional wage (SMI) in 2027 at the gates of the November 29 election campaign. In fact, she does not rule out that the raise could be approved even in the middle of the campaign – which begins on November 13 – and wants the new increase to take inflation into account. Díaz has avoided giving a figure – for example, whether the raise should be higher than the average inflation forecast for this 2026 – but she has acknowledged that "many families are suffering from the impact of inflation". "It is an evidence," she said at a press conference this Thursday. In addition to prices, the minister has instructed the SMI experts, with whom she met this Thursday, to take other elements into account, such as productivity and the economic context.

The current minimum interprofessional wage (SMI) is 1,221 gross euros per month in 14 payments. This was agreed upon by unions and the Spanish government in January 2026. The employers' association withdrew from the agreement. The raise was the sixth consecutive one that the government agreed upon with the unions, and without the business owners. The last time the CEOE and Cepyme supported the increase of this minimum income was in 2020, when it went from 900 to 950 euros per month.

Although Díaz has left the door open to approving a raise before the upcoming November 29 elections and for the raise to come into effect on January 1, 2027, previous steps must be taken: the first, that the SMI experts with whom she met this Thursday propose a figure. The Minister of Labor has asked them to propose it by October 31 at the latest. Afterwards, the social agents (majority unions, CCOO and the UGT, and employers' associations) must be convened to open negotiations and, if possible, "reach an agreement," said Díaz. Finally, the SMI raise would have to be approved in a council of ministers – the minimum wage increase does not have to be voted on in Congress –. From November 29 onwards, Pedro Sánchez's executive will be in a caretaker capacity, but sources from the Ministry of Labor state that, despite this scenario, the increase could go ahead in a council of ministers.

Approving an increase in the minimum wage means for the Spanish government that it can claim a new success regarding its socio-labour policy. In fact, the SMI and its improvement has been one of the banners of Pedro Sánchez's government since he arrived at the Moncloa and, above all, of the minority partner (Podem, first; and Sumar, later). In this context and facing a new increase, Díaz has asked the experts to calculate what impact the last increases have had on the lowest incomes. She also said that, while business margins "have not stopped growing", wages have remained "moderate". "It is time to tighten the belt at the top, not at the bottom", said the minister.