Around 25,000 rally in Madrid for Spain's state pensions

About 25,000 people rallied in Madrid on October 24, 2026, in support of Spain's state pension scheme, the government-run system that pays retirement benefits. Al Jazeera reported that the marchers set off from Atocha train station and walked to Gran Via.

Demonstrators want pensions to remain indexed to inflation, meaning they rise in step with consumer prices. They also called for the gender pension gap, the difference between the pensions received by women and men, to be eliminated.

The march took place ahead of a general election scheduled for next month. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez accused the right-wing Popular Party of planning to weaken inflation-linked pension increases if it wins. Its leader, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, said he would continue to raise pensions in line with inflation if his party wins the election.

Sanchez, for his part, pledged to protect pensions if he remains in office and said the current pension system is affordable. Spain's government and opposition have therefore set out different positions on the same question: how pensions will be funded and adjusted in the years ahead.

The financial pressure behind the debate is set out in several figures. Spain's monthly pension bill hit a record high in 2026 of almost 14.5 billion euros ($16.2 billion), according to Al Jazeera. The system has become more reliant on state funding because the number of pensioners is growing and monthly payments have risen.

The Social Security system, which covers pensions and other benefits, ended 2025 with a deficit of 0.4% of gross domestic product, the total value of the country's goods and services. A deficit means spending was higher than income, as a share of that output, Euronews reported.

For 2026, the government has said contributory pensions, which are based on workers' social security payments, will generally increase by 2.7%, according to La Moncloa, the government's official website.