The Government wants to not only raise the retirement age to 67 years, but also increase the contribution period used for the calculation of pensions from the current 15 years to 25 years.
This measure has been included in the Programa de Estabilidad 2009-2013 (Stability Programme) submitted to the European Commission as a means of controlling and reducing public spending.
Public debt in Spain is set to reach 74% of GDP in 2012 but the Government is ‘hoping’ that this will begin to shrink in 2013 or thereafter.
The Government has also approved an austerity plan in which it is hoped to reduce spending by €50,000 million over the next four years.