How the reformed Spanish unemployment subsidy works

Since November 2024 there is no waiting month: the subsidy is paid in IPREM-based brackets that decrease over time.

Spain reformed the assistance-level unemployment subsidy (subsidio por desempleo) with Real Decreto-ley 2/2024. Since 1 November 2024, there is no one-month waiting period after your contributory benefit ends. If your prestación contributiva (the paid-in benefit, based on your work record) runs out in 2026, you can apply for the subsidy straight away.

Who can get this subsidy

This subsidy is for people who have used up their contributory unemployment benefit. You qualify if that benefit ended on or after 1 November 2024. You must be registered as a jobseeker, or demandante de empleo (the official jobseeker registration you keep at your SEPE office), and sign an acuerdo de actividad (an activity agreement that sets out your job-search duties).

You also need to have low income. Your income in the month before you apply must be below 75% of the minimum wage (SMI). For 2026 that limit is 915.75 euros a month. If you do not meet this income test, you can still qualify by showing you have family responsibilities, such as a dependent child or spouse with low income.

If you are under 45 and had no family responsibilities, your contributory benefit must have lasted at least 360 days before you can move to this subsidy.

How much you get

The amount is a percentage of the IPREM (a public reference index used to set benefits, not the minimum wage). In 2026 the monthly IPREM is 600 euros. The percentage drops the longer you stay on the subsidy:

SEPE pays the subsidy in 30-day periods, between the 10th and 15th of the following month, by bank transfer.

How long the subsidy lasts

The maximum length depends on your age, your family responsibilities and how long your contributory benefit lasted:

• No family responsibilities, under 45, and a contributory benefit that lasted 360 days or more: up to 6 months.
• With family responsibilities and a contributory benefit that lasted at least 120 days: up to 24 months.
• With family responsibilities and a contributory benefit that lasted at least 180 days: up to 30 months.

SEPE grants the subsidy in three-month blocks and renews it automatically until you reach your maximum duration. If you start the subsidy without proving family responsibilities but can prove them later, you can ask SEPE to extend your subsidy up to the longer duration, as long as you do this within 12 months of the date your contributory benefit ended.

Working while you receive the subsidy

You can take a part-time job while on the subsidy. If you combine several part-time jobs, their combined hours must stay below a full working day. If your income situation changes, you must declare it, since you need to keep declaring all income earned by you and your household each month to keep the subsidy.

What this means if your benefit ends in 2026

If your contributory benefit runs out in 2026, you exhaust it well after the 1 November 2024 cut-off, so the no-waiting-month rule applies to you. Apply for the subsidy as soon as your contributory benefit ends. You will need to register or renew your demanda de empleo, sign the activity agreement and declare your income and that of your household for the previous month. Read our guide on how to register as unemployed in Spain if you need to renew that registration first.

If you do not qualify because your income is above the limit and you have no family responsibilities, check whether the family support subsidy fits your situation instead. And if the end of your contributory benefit also affects your immigration status, see our guide on what happens to your residency if you lose your job in Spain.

This subsidy, like all SEPE benefits, is free to apply for. Do not pay anyone to submit the application for you.