The salary of the more than 3.5 million public employees in Spain will be increased by a fixed 1.5% in 2026, with retroactive effect from January 1 of that year, according to the Framework Agreement for the improvement of public employment and citizen service. The increase could be extended by an additional 0.5% if inflation at the end of 2026 equals or exceeds that percentage.
The agreement was signed by the Ministry of Civil Service, UGT and CSIF, later joined by CCOO, and establishes a salary revaluation of 11% for the period 2025-2028, although the unions calculate that, due to the cumulative effect of the annual increases, the real increase could reach 11.5%.
For 2025, the agreement establishes a consolidable salary increase of 2.5% over the previous year. In 2026, the increase will be 1.5% over the salaries in effect on December 31, 2025, with the possibility of adding an additional half point linked to the CPI. If this condition is met, the 0.5% would be paid retroactively in the first quarter of 2027.
The increase foreseen for 2026 will be the only one with a variable component within the agreement. In 2027, civil servants will receive a fixed increase of 4.5%, while in 2028 the increase will be 2%.
Guaranteed increase after validation of the decree law
The 2026 salary increase was guaranteed after the Plenary of the Congress validated in December the royal decree-law that regulates the salary revaluation of public personnel for 2025 and 2026. The norm had the vote against Vox, the abstention of Junts and the support of the rest of the parliamentary groups.
The decree regulates the essential aspects for applying the salary increase as from January 1, 2025, as well as the provisions necessary for the 2026 increase to come into force on the scheduled date. The measures are applicable to all public administrations: state, regional and local.
In the case of the state public sector, the increase corresponding to 2025 will become effective this December, through the payment of the arrears accumulated since January. The rest of the administrations will set their own payment schedule, which may be spread over 2026, 2027 and 2028 or be concentrated in December 2025, within the framework of union negotiations.
Advances in working hours and teleworking
Beyond salary improvements, the Ministry of Public Function has committed to negotiate the implementation of the 35-hour working week in the General State Administration (AGE). According to UGT, the aim is for this measure to come into force between February and March, after starting talks in January.
The Government will also address the regulation of teleworking in the AGE, an issue to be dealt with at the General Negotiating Table. Both measures are part of the Framework Agreement for a 21st Century Administration, signed in October 2022 and still pending full development.
Further labor and organizational improvements
The Civil Service has also set up a monitoring committee to ensure compliance with the new framework agreement, which includes a broad package of labor measures. These include the elimination of the replacement rate, the streamlining of selection processes, the reinforcement of public service staff and the adaptation of job classifications to actual functions and professional experience.
The agreement also promotes internal promotion, with differentiated processes and a greater weight of merit-based competitions, as well as the review of residence and insularity allowances and compensation for reasons of service throughout 2026, in order to correct inequalities among public employees.
In addition to this, there are improvements in leave and reconciliation, reinforcement of occupational health protection, with psychological support and measures to deal with aggressions, updated remuneration for employees working abroad, advances in the area of retirement and reinforcement of the quality of care provided by the administrative mutual insurance companies (Muface, Mugeju and Isfas).
