Ignacio has a small company with workers who, despite the increases in the Minimum Interprofessional Wage, do not receive the money. “We pay good salaries, but what the worker receives is little because they steal it,” he says in the podcast. The barefoot man.
He claims to live among taxes, agreements and a system in which, he affirms, “everything is designed to impoverish you,” convinced that the current regulation limits the freedom of both parties.
“Everywhere you look, everything is getting worse”
This 2026, the SMI in Spain stands at 1,221 euros per month in 14 payments, equivalent to 17,094 gross euros per year, following the agreement signed on February 17 between the Government and the CCOO and UGT unions. The measure, retroactively from January, represents an increase of 3.1% compared to 2025, that is, 37 euros per month.
According to data from the Bank of Spain, the average labor cost per worker is around 3,000 euros per month, well above the net salary received by the employee. It is precisely there where Ignacio focuses his criticism: “The worker does not see it on his payroll because the State keeps almost half of it.”
In fact, official figures confirm part of his argument. According to the Tax Agency, low salaries bear a burden of close to 40% between contributions, personal income tax and indirect VAT. For example, a worker who earns the SMI can receive around 980 euros net, while his company assumes a real cost of close to 1,800 euros. “For someone who earns the SMI, they take away almost 50%; and that’s without counting the VAT. Everything is designed so that it doesn’t give you life,” he says.
One more point is added to the fiscal pressure: the loss of purchasing power. Data from Eurostat and the INE show that the price of housing has doubled in relation to average income: if two decades ago a house cost the equivalent of three years of average salary, today more than six are needed. “Everywhere you look, everything is getting worse. The problem is not what you charge, but what you can buy with that money.”
However, Ignacio states that the system has “absurd rigidity,” since the agreements prevent paying more to those who perform better. “If an employee wants to work more, they can’t. If I allow it, they fine me,” he says, convinced that these rules slow down productivity.