Minimum wage and average salary in Spain

With the cost of living as it is, your finances can have a big impact on your quality of life. Luckily, workers in Spain earn a reasonable living. The country has the seventh-highest minimum salary in Europe, which the government adjusts annually.

So, what is the minimum wage in Spain, and which sector offers the highest average salary? Are you paid enough, or is it time to contact your union representative?

Continue reading for more on the topic, including the following:

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The minimum wage in Spain

Legally, all workers in Spain are entitled to the minimum wage (Salario Mínimo Interprofesional – SMI), regardless of their age, gender, or employment contract.

The country first introduced the minimum wage under General Francisco Franco’s regime in 1963. Nowadays, the Council of Ministers (Consejo de Ministros) reviews the salary level each year based on various factors, including national productivity and employment rates.

Contracts, working hours, paid leave, and minimum wage are just a few of the highly regulated areas under Spain’s labor laws. An employee’s salary can either be monetary or in-kind, but the latter cannot be higher than 30% of the total amount of the salary.

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Labor laws in Spain

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Comparatively, Spain is comfortably seated in the mid-range of minimum wages in the European Union (EU), similar to Slovenia. Luxembourg pays workers nearly double, and employees in Ireland, the Netherlands, and Germany earn almost a third more. Meanwhile, workers in Albania, Montenegro, and Serbia are paid up to two-thirds less than Spanish employees.

In 2024, the gross minimum salary for a full-time job is as follows:

Employers may choose to pay you 12 or 14 times per year. In the case of the latter, you will receive a double monthly salary in July and December.

The legal minimum of vacation days

In addition to your salary, you are legally entitled to paid annual leave. All workers are entitled to at least 30 calendar days (in Spanish) of vacation per year. This number of days applies to interns, apprentices, trainees, and part-time employees as well.

Employers may not replace your vacation days with financial compensation. However, if your work agreement (including temporary contracts) ends before you have used all of your holidays, your employer must compensate the leftover days.

What counts toward the minimum wage?

In Spain, the statutory minimum wage applies only to monetary payments (in Spanish). In-kind benefits cannot reduce a salary below the minimum. Similarly, overtime payments, profit shares, and end-of-the-year bonuses do not count toward the minimum salary.

Variations and exceptions

It is very common for Spanish industries to have a collective bargaining agreement (convenio colectivo de trabajo – CCT) in place. These agreements are negotiated between employers and labor unions, and cover employment issues like wages and workers’ rights. In 2018, around 80.10% of all employment in Spain was subject to a CCT.

When your work falls under a collective agreement, you could benefit from a higher minimum salary. That’s because a person’s gross income cannot be below the minimum wage; if you’re paid less, your contract will be nullified.

You can check your employment contract to see if a collective labor agreement applies.

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Employment contracts in Spain

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Part-time workers in Spain

In Spain, a full-time work week is a maximum of 40 hours (i.e., nine hours per day with one hour for lunch). The minimum wage for part-time workers is calculated using the hourly rate.

General labor laws also apply, even if the working relationship lasts less than three months. In some cases, part-time workers may be able to claim a pro-rata payment for Sundays and public holidays. This depends on the agreed-upon overtime policy and payment as mentioned in your contract.

Apprentices, interns, and trainees

Students who receive on-the-job training must receive some form of payment for their work. This compensation should match the statutory minimum wage of regular employees in Spain (but in proportion). As such, the amount can vary depending on the training program, the industry, and the applicable CCT.

Under Spanish labor laws, student work hours may not exceed 65% during the first year and 85% during their second year. If there isn’t a collective labor agreement in place, their salaries may not be lower than 60% during the first year and 75% during the second year. However, the remuneration must always be proportional to the hours that the student works.

Minimum wage calculator in Spain

You can use a salary calculator to see if your gross salary complies with Spanish law.

Salaries and wages for international workers

Employment law doesn’t differentiate between Spanish citizens and foreign nationals. Spanish employers must legally pay you the minimum income as set by the government or collective bargaining agreement.

There may be a different set of rules for non-taxpaying residents who are employed by an international company.

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The average salary in Spain

How much you earn in Spain depends on your gender, age, education level, professional experience, location, and sector of work.

According to official data from the National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadística – INE), men earned an average annual salary of €28,389 in 2021, while women earned an average of €23,176. This translates to a gender pay gap of roughly 18.4%. It should be noted, however, that Spain has since introduced labor reforms to address the pay disparity.

In 2022, Statista set the average gross salary at €29,113 per year (i.e., €2,426 per month). Meanwhile, the Adecco Group Institute reported the average was €21,864 per year (i.e., €1,822 a month).

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Average salary by sector

Many minimum-wage workers in Spain are in the service sector. According to INE, people working in accommodation and food services earned, on average, €14,809 per year (2021). Income varies based on experience level and the number of hours worked.

At an industry level, companies within the sectors of energy, finance, and information pay the highest average annual wages:

• Electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply: €50,646
• Finance and insurance: €46,853
• Information and communication: €35,870
• Healthcare and social work: €31,837
• Public administration and defense: €34,023

The average salary by job level

Wages can vary drastically among job levels. For example, the following sectors can have these gross monthly salary ranges:

• Commerce: €1,251–4,754
• Customer support: €1,280–3,823
• Education, Science, Research: €1,384–3,091
• Information Technology: €1,897–5,428
• Marketing, Advertising, PR: €1,129–3,432
• Technology, Development: €1,852–5,148
• Tourism, Gastronomy, Hotels: €889–2,664
• Translating, Interpreting: €1,113–3,724

If you’re moving to Spain for work, you may secure a higher salary by having your academic qualifications recognized. You could also take advantage of opportunities to upskill with job training programs.

Average salary by city

As with most countries, location matters to your expected income as well. Usually, the more populated the area, the higher the average salary. In 2022, workers in the following Spanish cities earned the highest average annual wages:

• Madrid – €38,400
• Barcelona – €37,700
• Valencia – €37,000
• Málaga – €37,000
• Seville – €36,400

Salary checker

There are numerous online platforms to see what your profession will likely pay in Spain. Here are a couple of salary checkers to help you:

• Glassdoor
• Paylab

The gender pay gap in Spain

In 2021, Spain still had an eye-watering pay gap of 18.4%. However, this disparity has since improved; women now ‘just’ earn 8.1% less than men, according to the 2023 Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The gap is disproportionately higher in the private sector than in the public sector. Eurostat reports a 12.8% difference for private companies and 8.2% for public entities.

One reason for the pay disparity is women’s overrepresentation in underpaid social sectors, such as education, healthcare, retail sales, and customer service. Spain also lacks female representation in senior, managerial, and decision-making roles; only 17.6% of companies have a female top manager, and just 32.6% of management staff are female (WEF, 2023).

Business school Estade notes that women in Spain still battle the gender stereotypes. Women and girls are often underestimated and believed to have ‘different abilities’. As such, they often face stigma and unconscious biases in hiring and promotion practices.

The government has introduced many measures and labor reforms to tackle gender inequality in the workplace. For example, businesses with 50 or more workers must create and implement an equality plan. Similarly, large listed companies must have at least 40% of either gender on their boards of directors by mid-2026.

What to do if you’re not paid the minimum wage

If you earn less than the minimum wage in Spain, you can file a complaint with the Labor and Social Security Inspection (LSSI – Inspección de Trabajo y Seguridad Social). They will assess your case, and fine or prosecute your employer if found negligent.

You can also seek advice from your trade union representative. The Spanish Constitution guarantees the right to strike, though only unions can officially call strikes affecting an entire sector.

If the company you work for goes into insolvency or bankruptcy, you can apply to the government for any outstanding wages. Depending on the situation, the Spanish Salary Guarantee Fund (Fondo de Garantí­a Salarial – FOGASA) may cover your financial losses.

What to do if your salary is too low in Spain

Depending on the situation, there are several courses of action to fix a low salary. For example, if your wages are lower than those of your colleagues or industry peers, you should contact your HR department or union rep to see if something can be done.

However, if you find you are paid less due to discrimination, you can bring the matter to the Arbitration Office (Instituto de Mediación, Arbitraje y Conciliación) or a regional equivalent.

After that, you can escalate the wage dispute to the Labor Court (Magistratura de Trabajo). If your case is successful, your employer will have to remedy the situation. If the judge rules against you, you can take the case to the High Court of Justice (Tribunal Superior de Justicia) and, eventually, the Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo). Some labor cases can also be presented to the Constitutional Court (Tribunal Constitucional).

Bear in mind that judicial processes are lengthy and expensive. Before taking this route, it’s recommended that you seek legal advice from a labor attorney.

Useful resources

• EURES Labor market in Spain – information from the EU job mobility portal 
• Spain Ministry of Labor – Spanish website for the labor authorities
• SalaryafterTax – calculate your paycheck
• 2023 labor guide (in Spanish) – MITES pdf containing Spain’s labor laws