Pay transparency in Spain
Draft stage
Spain missed the 7 June 2026 deadline. On 3 August 2026 the Ministry of Labour published a draft royal decree amending Royal Decree 902/2020 on equal pay for public hearing (comments 4–24 August 2026); it is still in social dialogue and has not been approved by the Council of Ministers or published in the BOE as of the latest sources found. The draft is a partial transposition; sanctions changes would need a law.
Draft · legal review pending, not yet published.
Last checked: 10/11/2026. This overview is not legal advice. Laws change; the linked legal text is what counts.
- In force since
- –
- Job ads
- No rule yet. There is currently no statutory duty to state pay in job ads or before the interview. The August 2026 draft royal decree does not regulate pre-employment pay transparency (Art. 5 of the Directive); this is left to later legislation.
- Asking about previous pay
- No legal ban yet
- Workers' right to information
- Under the draft, workers could request in writing their own pay and average pay by sex for the same or equal-value work, with an answer due within two months; employers must inform staff of this right annually. Not yet in force.
- Pay reporting
- Existing RD 902/2020 already requires a pay register for all employers and pay audits for companies with an equality plan. The draft would require companies with 50+ workers to report gender pay gap data to a new pay-transparency monitoring commission: 250+ annually, 50–249 every three years; first reports by 7 June 2027 (150+) and 7 June 2031 (50–149).
- Penalties
- Not yet specified; the draft royal decree does not change sanctions.
Not verified: No source after September 2026 found on whether the Council of Ministers has approved the draft; status as of November 2026 not confirmed in the BOE.
21% of job ads in Spain state pay
7,376 of 34,985 ads on employer career sites and applicant tracking systems in the last month; 17% for tech-related titles (499 of 2,880). Measured on 11/11/2026 via Active Jobs DB; includes pay read from the ad text.
IT salaries in SpainSources
- Proyecto de Real Decreto por el que se modifica el Real Decreto 902/2020 (texto, 3 de agosto de 2026) · Ministerio de Trabajo y Economía Social · 03/08/2026
- Participación pública en proyectos normativos – trámites cerrados · Ministerio de Trabajo y Economía Social
- Proyecto de reforma del Real Decreto 902/2020: nuevas obligaciones en materia de transparencia retributiva · Acountax Madrid · 07/08/2026
- España inicia la transposición de la directiva de transparencia salarial para evitar la multa de Bruselas · Moncloa.com (news site, not the government) · 07/08/2026