The minimum wage and workers’ purchasing power have become two of the main economic issues in the campaign for the upcoming general elections on 29 November. After several years of increases to the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI) and inflation that has made everyday expenses more expensive, the parties are putting forward different formulas to improve citizens’ income. The proposals range from direct increases to the minimum wage to tax cuts, labor reforms, and measures aimed at improving productivity.
The debate has taken on special prominence after Juan Bravo, undersecretary for Finance of the Partido Popular, announced this Friday that his party aims to raise Spain’s average salary from 30,000 to 50,000 euros over two legislative terms. The promise, made during the electoral debate of laSexta, prompted a response from the first vice president of the Government, Carlos Cuerpo, who questioned the lack of concrete measures to achieve that goal.
The starting point is the SMI for 2026, set at 1,221 euros gross per month in 14 payments, equivalent to 17,094 euros per year. The amount was approved in February through a 3.1% increase compared to 2025 and represents a cumulative rise of 66% since 2018. However, not all parties have specified how much the minimum wage would increase if they come to Government, and not all their pledges refer to the same indicator.
| Political party | Salary proposal | Amount or increase | Timeframe or objective |
|---|---|---|---|
| PSOE | Continue increasing the minimum wage (SMI). | At least 60% of the average wage. No specific figure for 2027. | Next legislature. |
| PP | Increase the average wage and prevent minimum wage (SMI) recipients from paying IRPF. | Move from about 30,000 to 50,000 euros gross per year of average wage. | Two legislatures. |
| Vox | Reduce taxes and promote job creation and productivity. | No specific increase in the SMI announced. | Next legislature. |
| Frente Amplio | Raise the SMI above inflation and reduce the working week. | No fixed figure for 2027. A 37.5-hour week without wage reduction. | Next legislature. |
| Podemos | Increase the SMI and reduce the working week. | 1,800 euros per month in SMI. A 30-hour week without wage loss. | No specific calendar stated. |
| ERC | Promote a minimum wage of its own in Catalonia. | 1,460 euros per month and an equivalent state SMI of 60% of the average wage. | Requires regulatory changes. |
| BNG | Increase the SMI and prevent increases from being absorbed through supplements. | SMI of 60% of the average wage. A 35-hour week. | No specific figure in euros. |
Current reference: the 2026 SMI is set at 1,221 euros gross per month in 14 payments, equivalent to 17,094 euros per year.
Note: the proposals on the minimum wage, the average wage, and tax cuts are not directly equivalent. The figures provided are election commitments, not approved wage increases. In the case of Podemos, it is not specified whether the 1,800 euros would be distributed in 12 or 14 payments.
PP: raise the average wage to 50,000 euros and ensure that the SMI does not pay IRPF
The People’s Party has presented one of the most concrete salary targets of the campaign, although it does not directly refer to the minimum wage. Juan Bravo assured during the debate on laSexta that a Government led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo would work so that the average wage reached 50,000 euros per year in two legislatures, compared with the approximately 30,000 euros currently.
The figure would mean an increase of about 20,000 euros per year in the average wage, if Bravo’s starting point is used as the reference. To justify that objective, the People’s Party figure argued for the need to improve productivity, strengthen vocational training, promote business competitiveness, and encourage investments that would allow the creation of better-paid jobs.
However, this is not a wage increase that the Government can approve directly for all workers. The average salary is a statistical indicator that depends on the wages paid by companies, the composition of employment, and other economic factors. In addition, the proposal does not amount to guaranteeing that each employee will end up earning 50,000 euros.
As for the minimum wage, the PP electoral program for 29N does not set a new monthly amount. Its most concrete commitment is fiscal: to establish by law that those who receive the SMI do not pay IRPF and that the threshold is updated automatically when that compensation increases. At present, those receiving the minimum wage already have fiscal mechanisms in place to avoid being taxed on those earnings, so the popular initiative seeks to consolidate that protection against future increases.
The party also proposes reducing IRPF on middle- and low-income earnings and updating certain tax parameters in line with inflation, with the aim of improving the net take-home pay available.
PSOE: new SMI increases and the 60% of the average salary target
The PSOE argues for continuing to increase the minimum wage and maintaining the wage policy applied during the governments of Pedro Sánchez. The Executive claims that the SMI has gone from 735.90 euros per month in 2018 to the current 1,221 euros, an evolution that has especially benefited workers with lower pay.
The socialist formation maintains as a reference setting the minimum wage at at least 60% of the average salary, an objective included in its previous programmatic commitments. However, it has not yet announced a specific amount in euros for the SMI in 2027, so it cannot be said that it has promised a specific increase for the next fiscal year.
During the debate on laSexta, Carlos Cuerpo defended the results of the Spanish economy and questioned the PP wage proposal. The vice president argued that raising the average salary to 50,000 euros without explaining how to achieve it was "a wish list", while also asserting the labor reforms and the measures promoted by the Government to increase employment stability.
The PSOE has also defended a progressive reduction in working hours. At its 2024 federal congress, it set the goal of reaching a weekly average of 36 hours by 2030, although implementing it would require new reforms and legislative agreements. Reducing working time without a proportional decrease in pay constitutes another way to improve working conditions, even when it does not imply a direct increase in payroll.
Broad Front: raise the minimum wage above inflation
Broad Front, the coalition led by Ada Colau and made up of forces such as Movimiento Sumar, Izquierda Unida and Más Madrid, proposes to continue increasing the SMI to improve workers’ purchasing power. Among its public positions is to defend that wage increases exceed the trend of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), so that increases do not be limited to offsetting the rising cost of living.
The coalition has not yet specified a new monthly amount for the minimum wage for 2027. However, the parties that make it up have argued for the need to strengthen collective bargaining, reduce working hours, and limit certain practices that, in their view, prevent transferring wage improvements to employees.
One of its main labor proposals is to reduce the maximum working week from 40 to 37.5 hours without reducing pay, a measure that Sumar had already promoted from the Ministry of Labour, but whose processing was rejected in Congress in September 2025.
On fiscal matters, Broad Front also proposes increasing the contribution of large fortunes and certain companies to finance public services and strengthen social protection. During the campaign, Colau has also argued that no pension should fall below the minimum wage, a proposal different from the wage increase that would directly affect retired people.
Vox: fewer taxes and labor reforms, but no figure for the minimum wage
Vox has not set, in its electoral programme, a specific amount to which it intends to raise the minimum wage during the next legislature. The party led by Santiago Abascal focuses its economic proposals on reducing taxes, decreasing administrative burdens, and improving business competitiveness.
In its programme for 29N, the party proposes reducing the IRPF depending on the family situation and the number of children, as well as cutting certain indirect taxes. It also advocates reforms aimed at facilitating the activity of companies and self-employed workers and a national plan for reindustrialisation.
Vox’s economic spokesperson, José María Figaredo, insisted during the debate on laSexta that wages cannot be analysed in isolation from productivity and from the economic situation. The party argues that lower tax pressure would allow workers to keep a greater portion of their income and that reducing business costs would favour the creation of jobs.
However, a reduction in the IRPF does not mean increasing the gross salary. Its effects on the payroll would depend on tax rates, deductions and the circumstances of each worker. In addition, those who already pay little or no IRPF may benefit in a different way from these measures.
Vox also proposes repealing certain provisions of the labour reform and establishing a zero quota for self-employed workers whose income does not reach the minimum wage, a measure aimed at self-employed workers and not at directly increasing the salary of employees.
Podemos proposes a minimum wage of 1,800 euros per month
Among candidacies at the state level, Podemos is one of those that has more clearly specified a quantified increase in the SMI. The formation, electorally led by Irene Montero, proposes raising it to 1,800 euros per month, which would mean an increase of 579 euros compared with the monthly amount for 2026.
However, the proposal that has been publicised does not specify whether those 1,800 euros would be paid in 12 or 14 pays, a relevant difference for calculating its annual amount. In the first scenario it would be equivalent to 21,600 euros per year; in the second, 25,200 euros.
The formation also proposes reducing the working week to 30 hours without loss of salary, as opposed to the current general maximum of 40 hours of average annual working time. Its approach thus combines an increase in the wage floor with a reduction in working time.
The implementation of both measures would require legal changes and should specify its deployment timetable, as well as the conditions for companies and workers.
ERC and BNG: minimum wages linked to average pay and territorial proposals
The proposals are not limited to formations at the state level. Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) proposes that the state minimum wage reach 60% of the gross average salary and argues that the Generalitat may set its own minimum wage of 1,460 euros per month, higher than the current one across Spain.
For its part, the BNG proposes raising the SMI to 60% of the average salary, in addition to preventing companies from offsetting certain increases by absorbing wage supplements. The Galician formation also proposes moving toward a 35-hour workweek, with the prospect of continuing to reduce it.
These measures present a difference with respect to the announcements by the large parties: some propose changes to the territorial regulation of the minimum wage, which is currently a state responsibility. Its application would therefore require modifications to the current legal framework.
How much does a worker currently earn in Spain and what changes after 29N
To understand the scope of the proposals, it is important to distinguish between minimum wage, average salary, and net salary. The first is the minimum legal remuneration that a worker must receive for a full workday. The second represents the average of the salaries that employees receive, while the third is the money that finally reaches the bank account once the corresponding taxes and contributions have been deducted.
According to the latest definitive data from the National Statistics Institute (INE), the annual average salary in Spain was 29,540.26 euros gross in 2024, the most recent year available in that statistics series. The wage median, which divides workers into two equal groups according to their income, stood at 24,497.17 euros. This difference shows that the average salary can increase without all workers experiencing equivalent increases.
Ahead of the 29 November elections, the parties’ promises have different degrees of specificity. The PP has set a target for the average salary of 50,000 euros over two legislative terms; Podemos proposes an SMI of 1,800 euros; PSOE and Frente Amplio defend new increases without yet specifying a figure for 2027; and Vox proposes reducing taxes and reforming the labor market without setting a new SMI amount.
None of these proposals modifies the current payrolls by itself. For them to materialize, they must be translated into approved and applicable measures. In the case of the minimum wage, in addition, its amount is set by a Government decision after prior consultation with the social partners.
The next increase in the SMI and the measures aimed at improving wages will therefore depend on the decisions that are made after 29N. Until then, the minimum wage continues to be set at 1,221 euros per month in 14 payments and the figures announced by the parties must be understood as electoral commitments, not as wage increases already approved.