The year 2022 began with the Minimum interprofessional Salary (SMI, in its acronym in Spanish) at 965 euros per month in 14 payments.
Before the end of 2021, the government decided to maintain this value waiting for a meeting with the social agents that would lead to a new rise, according to the ABC newspaper.
The commitment of the government formed by the Social Democrats (PSOE) and leftists (Unidas Pdemos) is that at the end of this term, that is to say within two years, the SMI represents 60% of the average salary in Spain.
To achieve this, the unions want the Spanish minimum wage to rise to 1,000 euros per month during 2022, which would mean an increase of 35 euros per month.
The unions also demand that after another rise in 2023, the minimum wage stays at 1,027 euros per month at the end of the current government's term.
Rising since 2018
The minimum wage in Spain has been continuously rising since the arrival to the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in 2018, despite all the criticism from employers' organizations, which warned that raising the SMI would destroy jobs.
In 2018 the SMI stood at 735 euros. A year later it was raised to 900 euros. And so on until reaching the current 965 euros.
