Spain: unemployment benefit, who qualifies, how much and how to apply

Who is entitled

The paro (contributory unemployment benefit) protects those who lose their job against their will: through dismissal, through collective or objective dismissal, through the end of a temporary contract that the worker does not give notice of, or through voluntary termination in the cases the law provides, such as serious breach by the employer (General Social Security Law, art. 267). Resigning, in general, gives no right.

You must also be affiliated and registered (or in an equivalent situation), have contributed for unemployment at least 360 days within the previous six years, be registered as a job seeker and sign the activity agreement, and not have reached the ordinary retirement age (art. 266). Contributions that already served for an earlier benefit cannot be counted.

How long it lasts

The duration depends on the days contributed in the previous six years (art. 269): from 360 to 539 days, 120 days of benefit; from 540 to 719, 180; from 720 to 899, 240; from 900 to 1,079, 300; from 1,080 to 1,259, 360; and so on, adding 60 days for every 180 contributed, up to 720 days with 2,160 days contributed or more. Three years of contributions (1,080 days) therefore give 360 days of benefit.

How much you get

The regulatory base is the average of the unemployment contribution base of the last 180 days, not counting overtime. The benefit is 70% of that base for the first 180 days and 60% from day 181 (art. 270). With a base of €1,500, that is €1,050 a month for the first six months and €900 after.

The result has a minimum and a maximum, which depend on dependent children and come from the IPREM, which in 2026 stays at €600 a month. With no children, the minimum is €560 and the maximum €1,225; with one child, from €749 to €1,400; with two or more, from €749 to €1,575 (SEPE). Dependent children are those under 26, older ones with a disability and fostered minors who live with you or depend on you and have no monthly income above the minimum wage.

These are gross amounts: when paying you the benefit, the SEPE deducts your share of the Social Security contribution and the IRPF withholding, where applicable (art. 273). You are paid in 30-day installments, between the 10th and 15th of the following month.

How and when to apply

The deadline is 15 working days from the last day worked (or from the end of the period equivalent to the leave you were paid for not taking). The application, with the activity agreement, is filed on the SEPE online portal with a certificate, electronic ID or Cl@ve, or at the benefits office by appointment. It also requires being registered as a job seeker.

Bring your DNI or NIE, a bank document with your account, the family book if you have dependent children and the company certificate, which the company usually sends to the SEPE. The SEPE has 15 days to decide and 10 more to notify you. Each installment expires a year after its due date: do not leave it uncollected.

If you miss the deadline or challenge the dismissal

If you apply for the benefit after the deadline, you are paid from the date of the application and lose as many days as you were late (art. 268). If you challenge the dismissal and had not applied for the benefit, you have another 15 days to do so from the conciliation record or the court ruling: claiming against the dismissal does not prevent you from receiving unemployment benefit.

To challenge it you have 20 working days from the dismissal (Workers’ Statute, art. 59.3), and before the trial conciliation or mediation must be tried (Law 36/2011, art. 63): filing the request suspends that period (art. 65).