Minimum Wage in Spain (2026)

Key numbers at a glance

Spain sets the SMI (salario mínimo interprofesional) annually by royal decree-law after consulting social partners, with a declared strategy of reaching 60% of the average national wage. Figures below are gross, per Eurostat (earn_mw_cur), the Ministry of Labour and Eurofound. The unweighted average of the 22 EU national minimums is about €1,379 a month in mid-2026, so Spain’s rate sits roughly 3% above that benchmark.

Minimum wage in Spain: the rate

A consultative process with unions (CCOO, UGT) and employers (CEOE, Cepyme) precedes each rise; the government decides by decree, and since 2019 every round has landed above inflation. The SMI is stated as a monthly amount in 14 payments (12 monthly plus two extra 'pagas extraordinarias'), so the annual sum is 14 × the headline; Eurostat's annualised equivalent for 2026 is about €1,425 a month. The interprofessional SMI is the floor under all contracts — sectoral and company agreements can only improve it. Domestic workers, household employees and interns gained full or phased coverage in recent reforms; one legacy gap closed in 2022–24, and case law now extends the SMI to short-hour part-timers pro-rata without dilution.

The recent trajectory: €735 (2018), €900 (2019), €950 (2020), €965 (2021), €1,000 (2022), €1,080 (2023, in 14 payments), €1,134 (2024), €1,184 (2025) and €1,221 (2026) — a 66% nominal rise in eight years, the sharpest sustained climb in western Europe. Coverage expanded with it: roughly 15% of employees are within 1.5 SMI levels, concentrated in hospitality, agriculture, retail and home care. The 2026 round was struck in February 2026 and backdated to January — a repeat of previous late agreements — and the social partners' pact included a commitment to continue converging toward the 60%-of-average-wage reference from the EU directive.

The rate is gross; for a full-time annual salary of €17,094, income tax for a single worker lands in the lowest brackets with much of it returned via the 'reducción por rendimientos del trabajo'. Employers of domestic employees now pay pro-rata SMI plus prorated extra payments. Enforcement sits with the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate; notable enforcement attention goes to agriculture, hospitality and delivery platforms, and underpayment claims can be raised jointly with union representation. The SMI applies from age 16 (the working age in Spain) with no youth sub-rate, though training contracts have historically carried percentages of the SMI — check the current training-contract rules with the ministry before relying on a reduced rate.

Youth and trainee rates. No general youth rate — the full SMI applies from the working age of 16. Only certain training-contract formulas have used reduced percentages, and their current validity should be verified with the Labour Ministry.

How Spain compares

In euro terms, Spain's statutory minimum is €1,425 a month gross. Spain sits in Eurostat's middle band (€1,000–1,500 a month). The table below sets the rate against neighbouring systems, the EU's highest and lowest statutory floors, and the EU average of roughly €1,379 (unweighted mean of the 22 national rates, Eurostat data for mid-2026).

The comparison to hold on to: Luxembourg tops the statutory table at €2,771 and Bulgaria closes it at €620 — a 4.5-to-1 spread that has been narrowing slowly as the east converges. Spain's position relative to that spread defines both its wage-cost competitiveness and its workers' purchasing power.

Purchasing power. In real terms Spain sits above 1,500 PPS at mid-2026 — inside Eurostat's purchasing-power top group with Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Slovenia and Poland — despite a nominal rate that looks middling. Spanish price levels are moderate for western Europe, which is why the SMI performs better in the PPS league than the euro league.

Where to verify the current rate

• Eurostat, Monthly minimum wages (earn_mw_cur)
• Ministerio de Trabajo, Economía Social y Deporte
• Eurofound — minimum wage in Spain

Neighbouring countries and related pages

Wage floors change at every border. Compare Spain with Portugal and France — the full list of 30 country pages is on the by-country hub, and the pan-European tables are in our minimum wage comparison.