Mar Jiménez: €1 under Rajoy, €100 under Sánchez — inflation eats the rest

Mar Jiménez, an example of money illusion in pensions

María del Mar Jiménez, a hotel room cleaner for more than 30 years and now retired, became the centre of an economic debate when she said on lasensla Xplica that under Rajoy her pension rose by one euro, while under the PSOE it has gone up by 100 euros. The remark, made in response to the PP's young politician Jon Echevarría, has peine the discussion about pensioners' purchasing power and the true scale of the increases.

The nominal figure versus real inflation

Those who defend the PP's record point out that during Rajoy's term there was even deflation, so a one-euro rise could have similar purchasing power to larger increases in inflationary times. Under the PSOE, by contrast, cumulative inflation — especially for food and energy — has eroded much of the nominal increase. According to a calculation often cited in economic analysis, to match the loss of purchasing power since 2018, the average pension should have risen by at least 300 euros, not 100. Like so many retirees, Ms Jiménez sees the increase in current euros but does not factor in the rising cost of her shopping basket.

The debate over whether the testimony was genuine

Part of the discussion has focused on whether Mar Jiménez was a spontaneous member of the audience or an actress hired by the programme. Some participants recalled that in the past there have been cases of supposedly real testimonials that turned out to be recurring across different shows. However, beyond the question of who she was, the underlying argument — the difference in treatment between governments and the forgetting of inflation — remains valid and applies to millions of pensioners.

The latent generational conflict

Echevarría's intervention reflects another angle: young people paying contributions doubt they will ever receive a pension, while today's retirees defend their acquired rights. The hundred-euro rise for Mar Jiménez is funded by the contributions of those working today, and many believe that this increase, however welcome for her, jeopardises the future sustainability of the system. "For her to get a hundred-euro rise means that those retiring now have to work two more years," one analysis summed up.

The case of Mar Jiménez illustrates the tension between individual perception — a tangible increase in the pay packet — and macroeconomic reality: cumulative inflation since 2018 exceeds 20%, meaning her pension's real increase could even be negative. Money illusion, as a comment recalling the 1993 campaign reminded viewers, remains a double-edged political weapon.