Last March, the last package of measures for the pension reform was approved through Royal Decree-Law 2/2023, of March 16, on urgent measures to extend the rights of pensioners, reduce the gap and the establishment of a new sustainability framework for the public pension system.

One of the main innovations included in this decree law is to ensure that the minimum contributory pensions granted by Social Security reach 60% of the median income corresponding to a household of two adults between 2024 and 2027.

How much will pensions rise in these 3 years?

And what will happen in 2024? On the one hand, contributory pensions will rise again on January 1, 2024 according to the average CPI, as happened in January 2023, when they rose 8.5% with the new pension revaluation formula.

On the other hand, one of the objectives of the royal decree is to reduce the existing gap between the reference amount of the contributory retirement pension for people over 65 years of age with a dependent spouse and the poverty threshold calculated for a household of two adults.

Thus, on January 1, 2024, “the reference amount of the pension will be additionally increased by the percentage necessary to reduce the existing gap by 20%,” they explain on the BBVA Retirement portal. By 2025, the percentage will rise to 30%, by 2026 to 50%, and by 2027 the amount “will be additionally increased, if necessary, until reaching the poverty threshold calculated for a household of two adults,” they point out.

This means, by way of example, that the minimum retirement pensions with a dependent spouse will have an amount of 1,178.57 euros per month in 14 payments in 2027, compared to the current 966.20 euros per month, that is, 212 .37 euros more, according to the calculations of the Social Security.

Tourism employment in the second quarter of 2023 has exceeded 2.86 million employed persons, which represents an increase of 5.4% compared to the same period in 2022 and 6.3% more than in 2019, according to published data. this Wednesday through Turespaña.

Between April and June 2023, tourism-related activities registered 146,678 more employees than in the same quarter of the previous year, which represents one in four jobs created during that period in the Spanish economy as a whole (589,000).. Therefore, 24.9% of new jobs in Spain have been linked to tourism activities.

For their part, active workers in tourism in the second quarter of the year exceeded 3 million (3,130,026), 6% more than in the same period of the previous year.

In relation to the unemployment rate, in the second quarter it was 8.5%, half a point above 2022 due to the increase in active workers, but three points less than in 2019 (11.1%) and that the national economy , which registers 11.6%.

The acting Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Héctor Gómez, has indicated in a press release that the EPA data show that the tourism sector is “one of the main economic engines of the country” and has highlighted how Spain generates tourism employment each time in a “more robust way”.

Gómez has highlighted that the labor market around tourism has shown “formidable resilience and performance” despite the uncertainty generated by inflation and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Likewise, he stressed that these data show that Spain “is not only a power to attract tourists, but it is also a power when it comes to generating wealth.”

They increase in all activities

All tourist activities registered growth throughout this quarter. Hospitality increased by 7.1%, due to the positive evolution of both food and beverage services (+7.1%) and accommodation services (+7.2%). In travel agencies, the interannual variation was 0.4%, while in passenger transport it was 10.8%.

The main growth of the quarter has occurred among wage earners (+8.1%) registering 2,381,684. Wage earners showed increases in all tourism activities. In passenger transport the growth was 17.3%, in hotels 8.7% and in “other tourist activities” 3.5%. Within “other tourist activities”, wage earners in travel agencies experienced a rise of 6.2%.

Wage earners in the tourism sector with a permanent contract (+80.4%) have increased by 18.1% this year, representing the eighth consecutive rise.

For their part, wage-earners with a temporary contract registered a decrease of 19.9%. In this sense, the temporary employment rate in the tourism sector was 19.6%, seven points lower than that of the same period in 2022: 26.4%.

In an interview on RTVE, Gómez has valued the labor reform, which has provided “stability in employment”. “We are dignifying employment in tourism”, he added. Likewise, he pointed out that tourism, given the “magnificent data” that it is contributing, “is pulling a lot from the country's economy.”

The self-employed have decreased by 6% compared to the same period in 2022, reaching 482,388. There have been decreases in “other tourist activities” (-22%) and in passenger transport (-8.6%), while in the hotel industry they have increased by half a percentage point (0.5%).

La Rioja, where it grows the most

The autonomous communities that registered the highest number of employed people from April to June were Catalonia (487,314), Madrid (440,033), the Valencian Community (279,779) and the Canary Islands (271,204).

During this period, the number of employed persons grew in all the autonomous communities, except in the Valencian Community, Castilla y León, Aragón and Cantabria.

The autonomous communities where the number of employed grew the most was La Rioja, with a year-on-year growth of 40.1%, Galicia, with 18.3%, and the Balearic Islands, with 18.1%.

The autonomous communities with the highest number of tourist flows (Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Andalusia, the Valencian Community and Madrid) are those that together in the second quarter accounted for 74.5% of the total employed in the sector.

Those over 52 who are unemployed are entitled to a subsidy if they have exhausted the contributory benefit, as stated by the Public State Employment Service (SEPE).. To access it, the SEPE includes on its website a series of requirements to collect this benefit, the amount of which is 80% of the IPREM (about 480 euros per month) and the duration, if the requirements are met, is until the age required to be entitled to the Social Security contributory pension.

The requirements to access this benefit, however, open the question for two types of workers: domestic employees and self-employed workers. Do they have access to this benefit based on the requirements demanded by the SEPE?

Requirements for the provision of people over 52 years of age

The requirements for unemployed people over 52 years of age to receive this benefit are the following:

The self-employed and domestic workers would have a difficult time

These requirements, however, would make it difficult for household employees or workers to benefit from it.. This is due to the minimum contribution requirements (at least 15 years of contributions for the retirement pension, two of which in the 15 prior to the application, and a minimum of 6 years of unemployment contributions): the self-employed can contribute for termination of activity since 2019, as published by Social Security on its website. For their part, domestic workers can collect unemployment from 2020, according to the website of the Ministry of Labor.

These groups, according to El Periódico, have difficulty meeting these minimum requirements established by law, which is why it is very possible that they do not have access to this benefit.

FACUA Consumers in Action has warned of the practice of some beach bars and summer terraces of imposing cash as the only form of payment, alleging that their dataphone or POS (Point of Sale Terminal) is permanently damaged.

As reported by the consumer organization in a statement, if at the entrance of an establishment there is a sign indicating that they accept card payments, it will be the client who decides how to pay the amount of the account and that in no case can he be forced to a user to pay an account in cash if they have been previously informed that card payment is possible.

If the establishment does not accept this form of payment for some reason, you must provide a bank account so that a transfer can be made or a mobile number to pay the amount through Bizum.

“Beyond whether it is true or not that the dataphone does not work, FACUA has located some of these establishments in which the poster that informs about this failure is laminated or even framed and with dust on it”, denounced the consumer association, which has specified that, in these cases, “it is clear that it is not a one-time failure of the card payment device, but a common practice on the part of the owner of the establishment”.

The association has reported that, in these cases, the consumer can report the facts to the consumer agency of their autonomous community for the possible existence of an infraction and bring the facts to the attention of the Treasury, given the possibility that the establishment in question only accept cash payments to avoid declaring part of your income.

There is a zero euro banknote, even though it is not a banknote regulated or approved by the European Central Bank (ECB). Its origin is in Kiel, Germany.. This port city in the north of the country proposed the creation of this ticket as a souvenir for tourists. The first print run was 5,000 notes and its success led to more issues, according to El Economista.

The German ship Gorch Fock II, a German warship, representing the city of Kiel, appears on the obverse of the banknote, according to BBVA.. On the reverse, there are different European monuments: the Eiffel Tower, the Sagrada Família, the Colosseum, the Brandenburg Gate, the Belem Tower or the Mannekin Pis, as well as part of the Mona Lisa and the flag of the European Union.

Although the ticket has no value and you can't buy anything with it, the price to get it (the original design, since there are different designs throughout Europe, being a souvenir) is 2.50 euros, as can be seen on the Kiel Tourism website. We must not forget that the zero euro note is nothing else, but a collector's item that is becoming more and more coveted.

“The only banknotes recognized by the ECB are the authentic euro banknotes. The production of the zero euro “souvenir” note is not regulated or approved by the ECB,” they say from the monetary body. “If banknote manufacturers produce them, they must comply with the ECB reproduction rules set out in Decision ECB/2013/10 to ensure that the banknotes cannot be mistaken for authentic ones.”

In the middle of summer, many workers start their summer vacations to have a few days of disconnection and relaxation.. However, the reality is that some workers, such as the self-employed, have to carry out procedures during their vacation period. In this sense, what expenses can be deducted?

The Value Added Tax (VAT) Law is the regulation that is in charge of regulating the necessary requirements so that self-employed workers can apply the various deductions or to know if they are entitled to them.. In this sense, the VAT that is supported during travel expenses can be deducted, as long as it meets a series of conditions.

What expenses can be deducted and how

Self-employed workers may deduct certain expenses, as long as they derive from their professional activity, such as diets or transportation expenses.. Possible accommodation expenses will also be deductible, for example if you have traveled to meet a client.

As detailed in the specialized portal Declarando, “an expense is deductible when it is necessary and exclusive for the development of your activity as a freelancer”. Thus, it can be deducted if the invoice or ticket is kept, this being one of the essential requirements.

Therefore, we must keep the invoice to demonstrate the purchase or the expense made. Said invoice must contain at least the following information: number, issue date, provider, description of the purchase or service acquired, price, and VAT applied.

Another of the necessary requirements is that the deductible expenses must have a direct and exclusive relationship with the economic activity.. On the other hand, the third requirement will be to justify and record all expenses and income in each worker's own ledger.