Green light for pension reform

"No end to contributions," headlinesABC, following the announcement that José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero’s government and Spain’s trade unions have reached agreement on the reform of the country’s pension system. The daily reports that from 2013, retirement age will be raised to 67 (as opposed to 65 today) and that workers who want to retire at 65 will need to have "38.5 years of pension contributions." However, the Madrid daily argues that "the unemployment crisis" in Spain is a much bigger problem than pension reform: "there will be no point to the reform without more contributions to the system." Rival daily El País remarks that the negotiation of the new deal, which marks a “success” for the government, will set “a precedent” for the unions.