A senior official, such as a tax inspector, an architect, a state attorney, a national politician or a military officer You must travel far from your workplace To develop tax inspection and supervise building work … State ownership, or carrying out some legal procedures, has 65.97 euros per day for accommodation and 53.34 euros to pay for breakfast, lunch and dinner to cover their expenses at the destination; A total of 103.37 euros per day to pay for basic expenses derived from their travel, as stated in the Royal Decree of 2002 that determines the amount of daily allowance that corresponds to them to cover these expenses or, as their compensation for service at the base is called.
It may seem like an insufficient amount and it is reasonable to believe that this is the case. First of all, because these amounts It has not been updated once since its approval in 2002; Second, because the average hotel nightly price has risen by at least 54% since 2008, while the average daily menu price has practically doubled during the 23-year period during which the diets were frozen. There is a third factor. The amounts mentioned are those recognized by senior officials in the state administration; Basic-level police officers, low-ranking military personnel or civilian administrative staff will have to make do with €48.92 for a hotel and €28.21 for meals.
Even the allowances received by senior officials, presidents of courts or ambassadors seem scarce for Spain in 2025 and amount to 102.56 euros per night in the hotel and 53.34 euros per day for maintenance, meaning a total of 155.90 euros to cover the expenses of the entire day.
“The current amounts are small and do not allow public employees to travel anywhere. Minimum conditions of dignity“They denounce CSIF, which tried unsuccessfully on several occasions to persuade successive governments to review these amounts, taking advantage of budget laws. He also did not succeed in negotiating the agreement to improve conditions for public employees for the period 2022-2024, which the government signed with UGT and CC.OO. In the context of increases in SMI and pensions, diets remained frozen. Even during the inflationary spiral, when the government agreed to update mileage allowances that had not changed since 2006 as if gasoline had not risen, maintenance allowances did not see the slightest update, even though food prices rose much more than energy prices.
Diets from other times
It is the daily diet with which senior state officials must pay for their food and accommodation. The salaries of senior government employees amount to 103.37 euros, while the salaries of administrative and assistance employees amount to only 77.13 euros.
Negotiations over civil servant salary terms had to align with the moment of extreme parliamentary weakness of the government in power and the pre-election context for the government to finally commit to updating the amounts that appeared to be carved in stone. The Agreement for the Improvement of Conditions of Public Employees for the period 2025-2028 not only stipulates an 11.4% salary increase over the entire period, but also obliges “to review compensation for service upwards in 2026, incorporating standards of equality among public employees, accommodation and isolation supplements.”
Five decades of waiting
“What was signed was that Next year, a negotiating table will be opened with the government “Updating meal and overnight diets, which have been out of date for years and have not been revised in more than 23 years,” explains Francisco Lama, CSIF’s national secretary of trade union action. The situation has reached a breaking point. The union has been denouncing for years that subsistence allowances are incompatible with “eating a decent meal,” and that on numerous occasions officials have been forced to share a room in order to survive with the allowances they receive.
The available figures on the development of hotel prices and the daily menu prove their validity. According to a report prepared by Spanish hospitality company Edenred, The average daily menu price is already over €14half the food allowance that lower-ranking officials receive for the day.
It’s even more dramatic in hotels. The 102 euros that senior officials receive per day for a night in a hotel would have allowed them to stay in a four-star hotel 20 years ago, but today it is hardly enough for them to stay in a three-star hotel. The approximately €66 to which they were entitled in Group 2 allowed them to access a three-star hotel with some ease, and today it is not even enough for them to stay in a one-star hotel at the prices reflected by the National Institute of Statistics. Less than 50 euros recognized for civil servants Group 3 are practically expelled from the hotel circuit and are forced to find a living in cheaper guest houses and hostels if they do not want to share a room.
For the CSIF union, updating these amounts so that they respond to current market prices and ensuring decent conditions for officials is only one part of their demand. “We want to end the trend Differences between levels of officials“It seems to us an unjustified discrimination, and that all public employees are entitled to the same compensation and the same conditions when there is a trip for work reasons,” asserts Francisco Lama. Its intention is that there are no scales and that the allowances that officials receive are the same regardless of the professional level they fall into.