Walter Finch
SPAIN has approved a plan to reduce the standard working week to 37.5 hours for private sector workers – making it one of the shortest in Europe.
The reform would affect approximately 12 million workers across key sectors including retail, hospitality, and agriculture, but it faces stiff opposition from business.
While public sector employees and many large companies already enjoy a 37.5-hour schedule, this extension will mark the first time workers across the spectrum stick to it.
Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz, championing the initiative, proclaimed it would ‘modernise Spain’ and enhance productivity in an economy that has already demonstrated remarkable resilience, posting a 3.2% growth rate last year that outpaced its European counterparts.
“This isn’t just about working less – it’s about being more efficient and giving hope to workers across Spain,” Diaz declared following the cabinet meeting where the measure was approved.
The proposal, emerging from the coalition agreement between the Socialists and the far-left Sumar party, aims to implement the reduced hours without any salary reductions by the close of 2025.
However, the path to implementation faces significant hurdles.
While Spain’s two main unions have thrown their support behind the measure, business leaders have withdrawn from negotiations after 11 months of discussions, expressing concerns about potential impacts on competitiveness.
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Their worries are amplified by recent signs of labour market fragility, with unemployment figures showing an uptick in January.
The government now faces the challenging task of securing parliamentary approval, with key pro-business Catalan and Basque separatist parties showing reluctance to support the measure.
Their votes could prove crucial in determining whether Spain joins the growing ranks of nations experimenting with reduced working hours.
