KING Felipe VI has cut his own salary by 20%, and reduced his wife's to less than his father earns.
The Monarch, who took over the throne in July after his dad King Juan Carlos I abdicated a month earlier, will now earn €234,204 a year before tax compared to €292,752 which his father earned as King of Spain last year and which Felipe VI was due to get per annum after his coronation.
Last year, when he was still Crown Prince Felipe of Asturias, the new King earned exactly half of Juan Carlos I's wages, at €146,375.50 before tax, and agreed not to take his pay rise in line with becoming reigning Monarch until the next calendar year.
King Juan Carlos I will now receive €187,356 gross per annum, more than Felipe VI's wife Queen Letizia, whose pre-tax yearly earnings have been fixed at €128,808.
This means the Royal household's overall annual budget for 2015 has fallen by 6% compared to last year, to €7,775,040, of which nearly half – 49% - goes on staff wages.
The remainder comprises 38% for overheads and running costs, 3% for investments and 2% for 'emergencies and contingencies', with only 8% going on the Royal family's wages.
Overall, Queen Letizia will get 55% of her husband's salary, and Felipe VI's mother, Queen Sofía will receive 45% of King Juan Carlos' wage – a gross figure of €105,396.
When agreeing to reduce Felipe VI's standard assigned salary as King of Spain, the Royal household analysed wages earned by foreign heads of State and top-ranking figureheads in Spanish authorities, such as ministers and the central government and regional presidents.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com