Minimum wage outstrips inflation in Spain

The Spanish government has agreed to increase the Spanish national minimum wage by 4.0% in 2009. The increase which came into effect on 1 January is twice the government’s inflation target for 2009 of 2.0% and more than twice the inflation level in December which was 1.4%.

The increase takes the monthly amount to €624 a month, up from €600, although the fact that in Spain monthly salary is paid 14 times, once extra in the summer and at Christmas, means that the annual value of the minimum wage is €8,736 (14 times €624). Around 400,000 workers get the minimum wage in Spain, about 2% of the total workforce.

The government had originally proposed a 3.5% increase, but following pressure from the unions, who wanted 8%, it raised the figure to 4.0%. This still leaves the unions dissatisfied. Fernando Lezcano, a spokesperson for one of Spain’s two largest union confederations, the CCOO, welcomed “the gesture” from the government, but described the final increase as “insufficient”.