The Government guarantees a salary increase of 4.5% to civil servants in 2027 despite the electoral advance.

As of October 20, 2026, two situations must be distinguished: the salary increases for public employees for 2025 and 2026 are already approved through a validated royal decree-law; however, the 4.5% increase for 2027 is still pending incorporation into a regulation. Additionally, the bill opened to modify that royal decree-law expired on October 6, 2026, so it is not awaiting a final vote nor its passage to the Senate.

What has been approved and what processing ended

The instrument that provided legal coverage for the first years of the agreement is the Royal Decree-Law 14/2025, of December 2, which approves urgent measures regarding remuneration in the public sector. It was published on December 3, 2025, and came into effect the following day.

The Congress validated it on December 11, 2025: that is, it voted to maintain its validity. The vote ended with 309 votes in favor, 32 against, and seven abstentions. It was also unanimously agreed to process it as a bill through the urgent procedure, according to the official information from Congress.

These are two distinct decisions: the validation maintained the royal decree-law; the opening of the bill allowed debating changes through amendments. That subsequent bill expired, but its expiration does not annul the validated royal decree-law nor does it turn the 2025 and 2026 increases into measures pending final approval.

Which years have legal coverage

• 2025: consolidable increase of 2.5%, effective from January 1 of that year.
• 2026: consolidable increase of 1.5%, effective from January 1, plus an additional 0.5% conditioned on the 2026 CPI variation being equal to or greater than 1.5%. Its payment is planned for the first quarter of 2027 if that condition is met.
• 2027 and 2028: the agreement establishes 4.5% and 2%, respectively, but these years were not approved by the 2025 royal decree-law.

This separation is important: the Ministry of Public Administration expressly explained that that regulation exclusively covered the increases for 2025 and 2026, although the union agreement extends to 2028.

Next steps for the 2027 increase

The immediate milestone announced is the follow-up meeting between the Government and unions scheduled for October 20, aimed at addressing how to guarantee the 2027 increase. The call, reported by Demócrata, does not equate to regulatory approval nor does it by itself guarantee a result from the meeting.

1. Approve the salary regulation. The expected route according to consulted information is a new royal decree-law, given the continuation of the budget extension. No fixed date for approval by the Council of Ministers is known.
2. Publish it in the BOE. The regulation must specify the percentage, its economic effects, and application conditions.
3. Validate it. Within the constitutional period of thirty days, a vote must be held to maintain or repeal it. During the dissolution of the Cortes, this function corresponds to the Permanent Deputation of Congress.
4. Apply it to payrolls. Afterwards, the necessary budgetary and administrative actions will correspond in each Administration.

The Senate does not participate in the validation of a royal decree-law. It would only intervene in subsequent legislative processing. Therefore, what is pending is not to complete the old bill, but to approve and validate new legal coverage for future years; there is no confirmed definitive schedule.

The Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Administration proposes and executes the Government's policy in two major areas: the digital transformation of the economy and society, and administration, public service, and public governance. Its attributions include planning, regulatory drafting, coordination, program management, and certain supervisory functions, always respecting the competencies of other departments.

Regulatory framework

The general attribution comes from Royal Decree 829/2023, of November 20, modified by Royal Decree 1230/2023, of December 29. The competency development is found in Royal Decree 210/2024, of February 27, which must be read with the modifications of Royal Decree 1185/2024, of November 28. This last reform especially redistributed audiovisual, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity functions.

Main competencies

• Digitalization of the economy and society. Promotes and regulates digital services and the digital economy; develops transformation strategies; coordinates strategic projects and maintains dialogue with companies, universities, and civil society. Also manages aid programs and promotes entrepreneurship, talent, and citizens' rights in the digital environment.
• Artificial intelligence and data. Develops policies to promote artificial intelligence, its adoption in productive sectors, and its safe deployment. Its functions include regulatory development, ethical aspects, and coordination of regulation application. It also promotes data as an economic asset and coordinates governance and data management policies.
• Telecommunications and digital infrastructures. Proposes and executes government policy on networks, services, and electronic communications infrastructures. The November 2024 reform concentrated ministerial cybersecurity and digital security functions in this area, without displacing the attributions of other state bodies. It also transferred the oversight of the National Cybersecurity Institute of Spain, INCIBE, here.
• Audiovisual communication. Exercises functions of regulation and promotion of audiovisual communication services. Since the 2024 reform, these matters are within the scope of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, along with the regulation of digitization services.
• Digital administration. Leads and coordinates administrative digital transformation, electronic public services, and common digital means. Includes technical development of Laws 39/2015 and 40/2015 and Royal Decree 203/2021; interoperability, digital accessibility, technological rationalization, and attributed competencies over public system security.
• Public service and public employment. Plans human resources; drafts regulations and reports; prepares and monitors public employment offers; intervenes in positions, remuneration, selection, mobility, and administrative situations. Manages the Central Personnel Registry and coordinates state collective bargaining, as well as promoting equality, risk prevention, and social action. Also drafts basic regulations on public employment for all administrations.
• Public governance. Proposes and executes government policy in this area. The Office of Conflicts of Interest is also integrated within its structure.

Scope and limits

Its role is cross-cutting but not unlimited: it coordinates interministerial actions and cooperates with other administrations, without assuming all their competencies. In public employment, certain attributions have an expressly defined state scope; drafting basic legislation does not equate to managing regional or local personnel.

Finally, Order TDF/469/2024, of May 9, delegates certain powers and sets limits for credit management. These rules organize the internal exercise of attributions but do not replace their material delimitation.

Yes: a royal decree-law can approve salary increases in the public sector, because it has the rank of law. However, it is not enough that the Government considers the increase convenient: it must justify an extraordinary and urgent need, respect the constitutional limits of this instrument, and comply with applicable remuneration, budgetary, and procedural requirements.

1. Justify an extraordinary and urgent need

The central requirement is that of Article 86 of the Constitution: the royal decree-law can only be used in extraordinary and urgent need. The Government must identify the specific situation that requires action and explain why it is not appropriate to wait for the approval of a law through parliamentary procedure.

Additionally, there must be a reasonable connection between that situation and the approved increase. It is not enough to generically invoke inflation, public interest, or the convenience of improving salaries: the motivation must explain why those circumstances require precisely that immediate response. A prior salary agreement may be relevant but does not by itself replace the constitutional justification of urgency.

2. Respect material limits

Article 86 prevents the royal decree-law from affecting the basic institutional order of the State, the rights, duties, and freedoms of Title I, the regime of autonomous communities, or general electoral law. This does not mean that any economic measure related to these matters is automatically prohibited: what matters is its scope and impact on the essential elements of the corresponding constitutional regime.

Therefore, a salary update is not excluded by its object. However, it cannot be used to introduce a transformation of matters constitutionally forbidden to this instrument. The existence of urgency does not eliminate these limits.

3. Fit the increase within the remuneration regime

The regulation must define with sufficient precision who gets more, how much, and from when: administrations and entities included, affected civil servants or labor personnel, included remuneration concepts, and possible retroactive effects.

It must also resolve its relation with limits and amounts established by current laws. Due to its legal rank, the royal decree-law can modify ordinary legal provisions, including remuneration rules, within its constitutional limits. It is not equivalent to a simple regulatory royal decree: the latter cannot alone alter what a law establishes without sufficient authorization.

When collective bargaining applies according to the regime, that process must be respected. Negotiating does not necessarily mean unions must consent to the decision, nor does it turn an agreement into sufficient authorization to spend.

4. Ensure budgetary coverage and financing

Authorization of the increase and the possibility of paying it are related but distinct issues. There must be adequate and sufficient credit or necessary budget modifications must be approved through the corresponding channel. Likewise, its effects on expenditure must be evaluated and applicable stability and financial sustainability requirements respected.

Budget extension does not by itself prohibit an increase via royal decree-law, but neither does it automatically provide the necessary resources. If the measure affects several administrations, the common salary limit must be distinguished from the financing and execution corresponding to each one.

5. Approval, publication, and control

The Government must approve the text and publish it in the BOE; its effects will occur according to what is provided. Afterwards, Congress must decide on its validation or repeal within thirty days following its promulgation. It can also be processed as a bill to introduce modifications.

Validation maintains the regulation but does not remedy possible constitutional defects. In short, the increase requires both an explained urgency and precise, legally compatible, and budgetarily executable regulation.