The SMI expert committee recommends raising it by 37 or 56 euros per month
Experts recommend an increase of between 3.1% and 4.7%, halfway between the proposals of the unions and the employers.
Madrid / BarcelonaThe committee of experts advising the Spanish government on the national minimum wage (SMI) has proposed raising it by 2026 to €37 per month (€1,221 per month in 14 payments) if it is decided that it will remain exempt from income tax, or to €56 per month (to €40 per month) if it is decided that it will remain exempt from income tax, as announced this Thursday. The Country and has been confirmed by ARA. Currently, the minimum wage is set at €1,184 per month, paid in 14 installments.
In percentage terms, these increases would be 3.1% in the first case (without taxation) and 4.7% in the second (with taxation). The committee proposes applying these increases so that the minimum wage represents at least 60% of the average wage, as established by the European Social Charter and as committed to by the Spanish government. The experts' proposal differs from that presented by the CCOO and UGT unions. who aspired to raise it by 7.5% (1,273 euros gross per month in 14 payments and with taxation in the IRPF), as well as that of the employers' associations CEOE and Cepyme, which proposed 1.5% (which means remaining at €1,202 gross per month).
The Second Vice President and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, had asked experts to propose two amounts: one in which it would be exempt from taxation and another in which the corresponding marginal tax rate would be applied, with the aim of achieving 60% of the average net salary. Last year, with the 4.4% increase that raised the minimum wage to €1,184 gross per month, the Ministry of Finance advocated for it to become taxable, but the Ministry of Labor opposed it, and the dispute was resolved with a temporary solution in the form of an exemption for this fiscal year.
Calculation Criteria
The proposed increase in the minimum wage has reignited the dispute with employers' associations, which reject the calculation used by the Spanish government to set it. According to the employers, data from the Active Population Survey (EPA) shows that the minimum wage has already exceeded 60% of the average net salary, the criterion used by the ministry headed by Yolanda Díaz. The CEOE (Spanish Confederation of Employers' Organizations) estimates that its proposal to raise the minimum wage by 1.5% in 2026 would have a gross cost of 862 million euros for companies, since each percentage point increase implies a cost of 575 million euros.
