«El Ministerio de Trabajo ha alcanzado un acuerdo con CCOO y UGT … para subir el salario mínimo interprofesional (SMI) un 3,1% en 2026, hasta los 1.221 euros mensuales por catorce pagas».
The Spanish Ministry of Labor and the trade unions CCOO and UGT have reached an agreement to increase the minimum wage (SMI) for 2026. This represents an increase of approximately 3.1%, to €1,221 per month with 14 payments (which is equivalent to €1,424.5 when calculated over 12 payments).
The text of the Royal Decree Real Decreto 126/2026 was published in the BOE on February 19.
Why This Matters for Immigrants
Some types of Spanish residence permits have financial requirements:
Digital Nomad Residence Permit — the minimum income is calculated based on the SMI, so its increase automatically raises the threshold for applications:
As of today, when applying for a Digital Nomad residence permit, you must refer to the updated income requirements (gross, per month):
€2,849 — primary applicant
€3,917 — family of 2 people
€4,274 — family of 3 people
+€356 — for each additional family member
Self-Employment Residence Permit (Cuenta propia) — although there is no strict savings requirement, in practice the financial requirements for this residence permit are also tied to the SMI indicator, so they may increase.
Residence by Settlement (Arraigo) — for some types of Arraigo, such as social-labor settlement, there are minimum wage requirements specified in the pre-contract.
