SPAIN will raise taxes for high-income earners to help chip away at the country's outsized deficit, the prime minister said yesterday.

Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said most Spaniards agree that a special effort can be expected from those better off as the government enacts austerity measures, such as cutting the salaries of civil servants and freezing pensions.

Zapatero said any tax increase would be "limited" and would not affect the middle class.