No, Spain has not created a new right to interest on late wages – but the 10% rule it already has is worth knowing

Articles circulating in Spain present interest on late salary payments as a newly enacted right, under headlines such as “ya está en vigor” and “es oficial”. There is no new law. The right comes from article 29.3 of the Estatuto de los Trabajadores, which states: “El interés por mora en el pago del salario será el diez por ciento de lo adeudado” – interest for late payment of salary is ten per cent of the amount owed.

We checked the consolidated text in the Boletín Oficial del Estado on 2 November 2026. Article 29 has only one version, published on 24 October 2015 and in force since 13 November 2015. The Estatuto has been amended several times since, but none of those amendments touched article 29. We found no 2026 decree, law or bill on late payment of wages.

Why this matters

If you are employed in Spain and your employer pays you late, you are entitled to claim 10% interest on the amount owed, on top of the salary itself. It is not added automatically: you have to claim it, usually together with the unpaid wages, and claims for salary are subject to a one-year limitation period. The Tribunal Supremo has treated the interest as applying to sums that are salary in nature. How it is calculated in a particular case is a question for a labour lawyer, a union adviser or a graduado social.

It applies to employees with a Spanish employment contract, whether you work from an office or remotely. It does not apply to autónom@s invoicing clients, where late payment between businesses falls under separate commercial rules.

Context

The “new law” framing seems to come from evergreen articles republished several times this year with fresh headlines, one with an AI-generated summary attached. It is a useful reminder to check the BOE before acting on a “just changed” claim about Spanish employment law, especially while the election called for 29 November means many labour bills have lapsed.