Politicians in Spain could get pay rise under new proposals - but where does all the money come from?

MPs in Spain could receive a pay rise of just 0.9% a year from next April under new proposals included in the General State Budgets for 2022.

The draft law, which was sent to the Congress of Deputies at the start of October, revealed the predicted salaries of the Prime Minister and other high-ranking officials of the Executive.

The document indicates the planned salary increase in all positions for those in public positions.

Surprisingly Pedro Sanchez is not the highest earner. Instead, the president of the Constitutional Court, Juan Jose Gonzalez Rivas, comes out on top and is set to earn €160,728 next year, followed by vice president of the Constitutional Court Encarnacion Roca who is expected to make €151,078.

Meanwhile Sanchez will receive €86,542 next year and his three vice presidents will have a salary of €81,341 each. Ministers will be paid €76,355.

In total these pay rises represents a 0.9 percent increase from the previous year, below the 2% salary increase that civil servants are to get in 2022.

Check out a full list of all the salaries below:

President of the Constitutional Court, Juan Jose Gonzalez Rivas: €160,728
Vice President of the Constitutional Court, Encarnacion Roca: €151,078.76
President of the Supreme Court and of the CGPJ, Carlos Lesmes: €145,361
Section presidents of the Constitutional Court: €143,686
Magistrates of the Constitutional Court: €136,295
President of the Court of Accounts, Maria Jose de la Fuente: €125,733
Members of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ): €125,366
President of the Economic and Social Council (CES), Anton Costas: €94,937
President of the Council of State, Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega: €86,900
President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez: €86,542
Vice Presidents of the Government: €81,341
Government Ministers: €76,355
Secretaries of State and similar: €74,892 (not counting extraordinary payments).
Undersecretaries and similar: €66,398 (not counting extraordinary payments).
General and similar directors: €56,773.26 (not counting extraordinary).

This is how the 2022 General State Budgets are distributed

The planned budget for expenses in the General State Budget project will amount to roughly €458million in 2022, of which €27,633 will come from European funds. This is reflected in the document released by the Ministry of Finance after the approval of the text in the Council of Ministers on Thursday.

The Minister of Finance, Maria Jesus Montero said that the non-financial spending limit, known as the ‘spending ceiling’, of the State Budget for 2022, remains at €196million euros, in line with the previous year and includes transfers to the autonomous communities, Social Security and part of the European funds.

In addition, the project foresees a collection of around €232million in tax revenues compared to €214millon in 2021 and the €194million collected in 2020. The document forecasts a greater increase in the amount collected through companies (11.8% more than in 2021), VAT (9.5% more), IIEE (8.2%) and personal income tax (6.7%).

Social Spending (€247million)