Elma Saiz (Pamplona, 49 years old) takes over as government spokesperson after two years at the head of the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, responsible for the department that manages pensions. That is, it has the largest social spending item in the state, around 12% of GDP, a percentage that is increasing due to the retirement of the state’s populous generation. baby boom. To this task, she now includes that of government spokesperson, after Pilar Alegría abandoned this responsibility of leading the socialist cartel in Aragon.
Saïz’s two years at the head of his ministry were quite eventful, punctuated by announcements which led to major crises for the executive. One of the most controversial episodes occurred in October last year. Then came the hurricane of “flexible” layoffs, a concept that Saiz placed in an informative breakfast and which attracted much criticism, especially from the political and union left.
“When it comes to pensions, there was previously a very brutal regulation: either work or retirement, and with the reform and thanks to volunteering we have made this transition more flexible. Well, it’s the same for temporary disability,” said Saiz. This reform, in the public debate due to the acceleration of sick leave for temporary incapacity, finds itself in an impasse due to the lack of consensus between the Government and social agents, with few signs of support, moreover, among the parliamentary groups. The ministry was quick to qualify this approach, after receiving widespread criticism, and indicated that the relaxation of sick leave would constitute a gradual return to work once released.
A few months earlier, in May, Saiz had also faced strong criticism from a specific group: scientists, who did not like Social Security’s proposal to buy back unpaid internship periods and convert them into paid internships so that they would be added to the retirement calculation.
The ministry approved an order which allows any person who has been on a scholarship without salary to pay in exchange for periods in this situation to count towards their retirement. Scientists protested the policy because very long periods of unpaid internships are common for them, usually at the expense of public institutions, and they felt the rule did not take their situation into account. Social Security introduced changes after these scientists’ complaints overshadowed the initial announcement.
Crisis over quotas for self-employed workers
The latest crisis occurred a few weeks ago, with the first proposal from the Ministry of Social Security to increase contributions for self-employed workers. Saiz’s first proposal was a significant increase in contributions, a little more significant in the lowest strata (the self-employed who earn the least) than in some intermediate strata. This led to an avalanche of criticism from the left and the right.
A few days later, Saiz corrected this approach in an interview with EL PAÍS: although he defended the convenience of achieving the goal of contributing based on real income in 2032, he slowed down the deployment of the system. At a meeting on October 20, the ministry proposed freezing the lowest fares and gradually increasing them below inflation for the rest. Since then, the ministry has not convened a formal meeting, but comments from social workers and parliamentary groups appear to rule out the possibility of an agreement.
If this agreement is not concluded, or if it is achieved but the text presented to Parliament is not approved, Saiz herself admitted that the government would extend the current quotas in 2026, an inevitable scenario given the approach of the end of the year. Union and employer sources indicate that La Moncloa gave the order to address this issue, given the strong rejection that the increase in contributions has generated among self-employed workers and the cost it entails for the government.
The main parliamentary group, the PP, raised the flag against the increase in quotas initially proposed by Saiz. He does this despite having supported the rule agreed in 2022, which established the start of the system that aspired to lead to contributions for real income in 2032. The popular not only reject the government’s approach, but also took advantage of the rise in decibels in the discourse on self-employed workers to make their own proposals in this regard.
Retirement agreement
The flip side of these setbacks has been the main agreement her ministry has reached since she became minister, the government’s only major agreement so far in this legislature attended by businessmen. On September 18 of last year, the President of the Government and the main leaders of the unions CC OO, Unai Sordo and UGT, Pepe Álvarez, as well as the employers’ associations CEOE, Antonio Garamendi and Cepyme, Gerardo Cuerva, organized in La Moncloa the signing of an agreement that deepened the pension reform begun in 2021. Benefiting from the support of employers and unions, this modification was approved by the months later. favorable vote of the PP in Parliament.
This political success coexists with the employment data that Spain collects month after month, with around half a million new jobs created last year. As head of Social Security, Saiz is accustomed to giving interviews and statements to the press after the monthly membership announcement.
Saiz took the reins of his ministry, replacing José Luis Escriva, now governor of the Bank of Spain. With a degree in law and a specialist in taxation, she was government delegate in Navarre during the mandate of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and responsible for economy and finance in the socialist executive of María Chivite. In June last year, she was summoned by the PP and UPN before the Senate commission investigating the matter. Koldo affairgiven the plot’s alleged connection to Navarre, where Santos Cerdán is also from.
At the same time, taking the reins of Social Security has been a challenge for Saiz, largely because of his predecessor in office. Escriva, although strongly challenged by economists who reminded him of his changes of opinion on what he said when he chaired Airef or the BBVA study team, entered the depths of the debate on the sustainability of pensions. The then minister’s economic background helped him wage a deeper ideological battle than the one Saiz is waging today.
She also claims the system, despite intensifying criticism due to growing pressure on spending due to the retirement of the generation of baby boombut it measures its interventions on questions related to Social Security. He gives more weight than his predecessor to the two other branches of his ministry, Inclusion and Migration. In light of these issues, Saiz focused much of his speech on confronting Vox’s anti-immigration rhetoric.
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