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In the first annual report presented by the central bank since Linde took office last year, the supervisor also proposed an acceleration of reforms to the state pension system phasing in an increase and the retirement age and changes to the basis on how pensions are calculated. These reforms should be brought forward to ensure the sustainability of the system, the Bank of Spain says.

“The seriousness of the labor market advises maintaining and intensifying reform momentum through the adoption of additional measures to promote job creation in the short term and facilitate wage flexibility,” the report said. “Here it would be worth exploring the possibility of establishing new formulas that would allow, in special cases, temporary departures from the conditions laid down in collective bargaining agreements, or exceptional mechanisms to prevent the minimum wage from acting as a constraint on specific groups of workers with most difficulties in terms of employability.”

The minimum wage in Spain is currently 645 euros a month. Spain’s jobless rate hit a record 27.2 percent in the first quarter, with 6.2 million people out of work, an increase of almost one million since the ruling Popular Party’s labor reform was introduced. The youth unemployment rate also reached a record 57.2 percent.

According to figures released Friday by the European Union’s statistics office, Eurostat, Spain accounted for 31.5 percent of the 19.375 million people out of work in the euro zone in April. Unemployment stood at record highs of 12.2 percent in the single-currency block and at 11.0 percent in the EU. The rate in Spain was 26.8 percent, with joblessness in Portugal 17.8 percent.