Software Engineer Salary in Spain: Pay, EU Comparison and Employer Cost

What software engineers earn in Spain

INE, the Spanish statistics office, does not publish a figure for software engineers alone. The closest official measure is the occupation group "information technology professionals" (CNO-11 subgroup 27), the group in which INE counts software engineers. In 2022, the latest year with this breakdown, they earned €45,093.97 gross a year on average. That is 1.67 times the €26,948.87 average for all employees, by our calculation. The figure includes €4,298.14 of extraordinary payments, such as extra monthly payments and bonuses, and €734.76 of pay in kind. Women in the group earned €41,410.99 and men €46,519.24.

ICT technicians (subgroup 38), a separate group below professional level, earned €33,908.59 in 2022.

The latest figure is for the whole information and communication sector, which also includes telecoms, publishing and broadcasting, and every role from engineering to sales. Average gross pay there was €42,741.94 in 2024, up 7.7% in a year, against €29,540.26 for all employees and a median of €24,497.17. These are averages across all levels of experience, so a senior engineer can expect more and a junior less.

If you are a job seeker, use these figures as a floor for a mid-level role, not a ceiling. Salaries in Spain are usually quoted as gross per year, so ask how many monthly payments the offer is split into.

How Spain compares in Europe

Eurostat's Structure of Earnings Survey gives the same measure for every EU country. Professionals working in information and communication in Spain earned €45,646 gross on average in 2022, in firms with 10 or more employees. That is 79% of the EU 27 level of €57,522, by our calculation. Spain sits above Portugal (€39,232) and below Italy (€49,625) and France (€60,737). This Eurostat group covers all professionals in the sector, not only IT professionals.

Spain had 1,060,900 ICT specialists in work in 2025, or 4.8% of total employment, according to Eurostat, up 3.7% on 2024. The EU 27 share is an estimated 5.0%.

What an employer pays on top of salary

In 2026 an employer in Spain pays these Social Security contributions on top of gross pay for an employee on an open-ended contract:

• Common contingencies: 23.60%
• Unemployment: 5.50%
• Wage Guarantee Fund (FOGASA): 0.20%
• Vocational training: 0.60%
• Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (MEI): 0.75%

That is 30.65% in total, by our calculation, plus a premium for workplace accidents and occupational illness that depends on the activity. Contributions are charged on pay up to the maximum base of €5,101.20 a month in 2026. Above it, the employer pays a smaller solidarity contribution: 0.96% to 1.22% of the pay in each band.

As an illustration, at the 2022 average of €45,093.97 for IT professionals, 2026 rates add €13,821.30 a year, for a total of €58,915.27 before the accident premium. On pay at or above the maximum base of €61,214.40 a year, the main contributions stop at €18,762.21. Both are our calculations.

Hiring a software engineer in Spain remotely

Mainland Spain uses Central European Time, the same clock as Paris and Berlin, which gives a good overlap with London and a morning overlap with the US East Coast.

We do placement, not employer of record. We source, screen and interview remote engineers and other professionals from a network of more than 1,000,000 European remote professionals, then deliver a shortlist of 3 vetted candidates within 21 days for a flat $6,500, or your deposit back. Every placement has a 12-month replacement guarantee. See how placement works.

Prefer to run the search yourself? Post a job for $299, live for 60 days.

Once you have chosen someone, you employ them through a Spanish entity, an employer of record, or a genuine contractor agreement. Euro Remote Talent does not employ people on your behalf.

Looking for a role? See remote jobs in Spain and our guide to landing a great remote job.

How we put these figures together

All pay figures are gross, annual and averages (means) unless marked as a median. The IT professionals figure comes from INE's Encuesta cuatrienal de estructura salarial 2022, the last survey with 2-digit occupation groups; the yearly survey for 2024 publishes only broad occupation groups and activity sections. Eurostat figures cover firms with 10 or more employees. Shares, ratios, growth rates and employer costs marked "our calculation" are worked out from the published figures. We did not convert euros into other currencies.

More guides

• Hiring in Spain: employer costs and labor laws
• Average salary in Spain
• Cost of living in Spain
• Minimum wage in Spain
• Software engineer salaries in Europe, compared by country
• Remote engineering jobs open to people in Europe