Pension Increase Hangs in the Balance for Canarian Retirees
The Spanish Congress, with votes against from the PP, Vox, and Junts, rejected the omnibus social shield decree on Tuesday. The decree included a 2.7% revaluation of pensions, among other measures. This creates a very real sense of déjà vu from exactly one year ago, when the lower house similarly refused to approve a package of measures deemed too disparate for a single, indivisible text. History has repeated itself, and the planned increase for 418,000 pensioners in the Canary Islands is now up in the air, affecting nearly 10 million people nationwide. A range of possible scenarios and many doubts about the future of pensions now lie ahead.
Planned Increases and Local Impact
The intention was for pensions to rise for the fifth consecutive year in line with the formula established in the law promoted by the former Minister for Social Security, José Luis Escrivá. This system links the annual revaluation to the year-on-year Consumer Price Index (IPC), calculated between December two years prior and November of the previous year. Under this formula, contributory pensions should increase by 2.7%. Additionally, the government approved an extraordinary 11.4% rise for non-contributory pensions—for retirement and disability—and for the Minimum Vital Income, aiming to compensate beneficiaries for lost purchasing power. A 7% increase was also slated for minimum pensions.
According to Social Security data from December 2025, there are over 418,000 pensioners in the Canary Islands: more than 377,100 contributory pensions and 41,800 non-contributory—25,610 for retirement and 16,221 for incapacity. For contributory pensions, the figure includes 213,000 retirement pensions. Some 97,000 island residents receive a minimum pension. The 38,626 Canarians who, according to the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, receive the Minimum Vital Income (IMV) would also have benefited from the 11.4% revaluation approved by Madrid.
If the increase is finally approved, Canarian retirees would receive €1,433.51 per month (plus two extra payments), meaning €37.68 more than at present. Over the course of a year, this improvement in annual income amounts to €527.52. In December, the average contributory retirement pension in the Canaries stood at €1,397, although the Association for the Defence of Public Pensions in the Canary Islands explains that 60% of beneficiaries receive less than this amount. The average non-contributory retirement pension does not reach €570.
A Race Against Time and a Repeat of History
The government can repeat the formula from a year ago and push through a new decree that includes only the pension increase or an additional measure supported by a majority in the chamber. It must do so as soon as possible to prevent pensioners from seeing their next payment reduced compared to what they received in the first month of the year. January’s pensions have already been paid, so their revaluation is not in doubt. However, if the government does not act in time, retirees would receive the same amount in February as they did last year.
In January 2025, exactly one year ago, the same scenario played out. The party led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo rejected an omnibus decree containing the pension revaluation which, just as now, included many other measures, such as the transfer of a Parisian mansion to the PNV. The executive resolved the situation a week later with a new decree that set aside many of the initially included issues. The pension revaluation, transport subsidies, and aid for those affected by the severe weather (DANA) were finally approved. That second decree was passed before February’s payment was made, so retirees did not experience a drop in the increase.
Government Response and Opposition Stance
The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, has stated on several occasions that the government is already working to move the pension improvement forward. As she indicated yesterday, they are “analysing the different scenarios” to “provide certainty to pensionists.” She also assured that dialogue is “constant” with parliamentary groups, although she avoided specifying whether she is negotiating with Junts to pass the revaluation in a decree containing only this measure.
Opposition parties defend their position by stating they did not vote down the pension increase because they are against it, but because they consider the government’s method of including it within a decree containing many other measures they reject to be inappropriate—just as in 2025. They argue this prevents transparent debate and that some of those measures have contradictory or harmful effects, so they prefer each measure to be processed separately.
Broader Measures and Local Discontent
Beyond the pension revaluation, the omnibus decree included a broad set of social, fiscal, and economic measures. Among the most relevant were the extension of the suspension of evictions for vulnerable families without alternative housing, the maintenance of energy aid—such as the social electricity tariff and supply guarantees—fiscal incentives for the energy rehabilitation of homes and the purchase of electric vehicles, as well as various extraordinary aid for those affected by natural disasters. The text also contemplated measures for the self-employed, tax changes for unemployed individuals, and provisions in the healthcare and territorial spheres. The president of Vox, Santiago Abascal, justified his parliamentary group’s vote against the decree by arguing the text incorporated measures that favour illegal occupation.
The Congress decision has generated profound discontent among Canarian pensioners. The Association for the Defence of Public Pensions in the Canary Islands warns that the rejection of the decree leaves thousands of retirees in a situation of uncertainty and does not rule out promoting mobilisations across the Islands, following the example of those already announced in Madrid or Catalonia. The group states the objective is to pressure the parliamentary groups that voted down the text to reconsider their position and allow the approval of the revaluation in a new decree. Social Security reported pension expenditure in the Islands from January to November 2025 totalled €4.885 billion.
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