€2,300 a month as a prison officer in Spain: risky job or a privilege?

€2,300 a month behind bars: the prison officer who says it's not enough

A Spanish prison officer said in an interview that the average salary in the corps is around €2,200 to €2,300 a month, paid over 14 installments. That figure is above the average Spanish wage, but he considers it insufficient: "We do a job that involves risk," he concludes.

The argument leaves no one indifferent. The first response is always the same: those €2,300 are earned by working an average of 15 days a month, with intensive shifts of three days in a row. In other words, the pay per effective working day exceeds that of many management positions in the private sector. But the objection is misleading, because those three days involve continuous presence, with nights and a level of tension that doesn't show up on any stock market.

A competitive exam that leaves out 14 out of every 15

Getting the job is no gift. It's a C1-level civil service corps, with multiple-choice exams and no unified syllabus, and a cut-off mark that in the last intake stood at 30 points out of 100. The ratio is brutal: for every 15 candidates, only one gets a post. Those who succeed have spent years studying and, in many cases, sacrificed their mental health along the way. That entry cost doesn't show up on the payslip either.

The awkward comparison with other corps and the private sector

The debate inevitably turns to comparisons. A tenured university professor needs years of career pogre to get close to that figure. A small-town local police officer, facing far less risk, earns the same or even less. And in the private sector, most contracts don't come close to those €2,300, not even with full 40-hour weeks. That explains why waiting lists to sit the exam remain long, despite the complaints.

The underlying problem: the erosion of civil servants' pay

But there's a third element almost nobody disputes: the loss of purchasing power. Rising inflation and taxes have steadily eaten away at public-sector salaries. What was a comfortable wage a decade ago today barely covers the month. And in a profession like prison work, where the danger is non-negotiable, the sense of grievance grows faster than in other corps.

What lies behind the complaint

In the end, the discussion isn't whether €2,300 is a lot or a little. It's whether Spain's labour market has become so degraded that a risky job, requiring a brutally tough civil service exam, pays the same as an ordinary administrative post. Those who defend the officer point to the responsibility and the danger. Critics point out there are worse-paid jobs with longer hours and more physical risk. Reality, as almost always, sits in an uncomfortable place: plenty of candidates willing to spend years studying for the exam to earn that amount, and plenty of officers who feel the danger allowance is mere paper. The debate, clearly, won't be solved with a pay rise, because the problem is structural.

Amid the controversy, someone is always quick to note that with €2,300 you can still wait until payday to buy a next-generation games console. For some, that's a luxury; for others, proof that the salary isn't so bad. The irony doesn't settle the matter, but it humanises the statistics.