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WORKING IN SPAIN

Can I claim unemployment benefits and be self-employed in Spain?

If you're unemployed and are receiving benefits are you allowed to sign up to be self-employed at the same time? Will you lose your benefits or are there circumstances where 'autónomo' work and 'paro' are compatible?

Published: 7 August 2023 11:17 CEST
Can I claim unemployment benefits and be self-employed in Spain?
Receiving unemployment benefits and registering as autónomo can be compatible in Spain.(Photo by GERARD JULIEN / AFP)

In a word, yes: you can claim unemployment benefits and be self-employed as well in Spain. But there are some caveats.

Since 2015, people have been allowed by Spanish law to register as self-employed and receive unemployment benefits at the same time, whereas in the past you would stop receiving unemployment benefits automatically the moment you registered as self-employed. Royal Decree 4/2013 and Law 31/2015 changed all that.

In Spain cobrar el paro (to receive unemployment benefits) is a right of all workers who’ve made at least 360 days of social security contributions in the last six years, and in some cases you can even qualify if you’ve only worked for three or six months.

READ ALSO: How much severance pay will I receive if I get fired in Spain?

The maximum period for which you can claim unemployment benefits while you are registered as a self-employed person is 270 days.

That is, you will be able to receive unemployment for the first nine months from the date you become self-employed.

There are also some rules, of course. In order to to be able to get unemployment benefits as a self-employed person in Spain you:

  • Cannot do any type of work as an ’employee’. In this case, your unemployment benefits are withdrawn. 
  • Do not need to comply with the usual obligations as a ‘job seeker’ as a self-employed person.
  • Must not have been self-employed and claiming unemployment at the same in the previous 2 years.
  • Can’t become a partner in a commercial company.

How much is it?

According to the Spanish government, “unemployment benefits are calculated according to the regulatory basis; this is the average of the contribution bases of the last 180 days of work prior to unemployment. The amount of unemployment benefit during the first 180 days will be 70 percent of the regulatory base, and from day 181 it will be 60 percent of that base”. 

READ ALSO: Spain approves new €600 per month unemployment benefit for artists

The exact amount you’re entitled to, based on that calculation, may not be lower than the minimum limit or higher than the maximum limit established by Spain’s IPREM – the index reference used to calculate state aid such as the minimum wage and unemployment benefits.

For 2023, the Spanish government set the monthly IPREM at €600.

Based on that, the minimum amount of unemployment benefit for 2023 will be €560 (without children) and €749 for this with dependent children. The maximum is €1,225 for people without children and €1,400 for people with one child, and €1,575 for people with more than one dependent child.

You can find more information about the minimum and maximum benefits here.

Self-employed in Spain

Spain reportedly ended 2022 with 3,329,863 self-employed people, with most autónomos working in commerce, agriculture, construction, hospitality, science and tech industries.

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For members

TRAVEL NEWS

Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

The EU's new Entry & Exit System (EES) of enhanced passport controls is due to come into force later this year, but among many questions that remain is the situation for non-EU nationals who live in the EU or Schengen zone.

Published: 27 April 2024 07:59 CEST
Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

Currently scheduled to start in autumn 2024 (unless it’s delayed again, which is not unlikely) the EU’s new Entry & Exit System is basically an enhanced passport check at external EU borders, including a facial scan and fingerprinting.

You can find a full explanation of the new system HERE.

Travellers crossing an external EU or Schengen border for the first time will be required to complete EES ‘pre-registration’ formalities including that facial scan and fingerprinting.

There are, however, several groups exempt from EES and one of them is non-EU nationals who have a residency permit or long-stay visa for an EU country.

So if you’re a foreigner living in the EU or Schengen zone, here’s what you need to know.

Exempt

One of the stated aims of EES is to tighten up enforcement of over-staying – IE, people who stay longer than 90 days in every 180 without a visa, or those who overstay the limits of their visa.

Obviously these limits do not apply to non-EU nationals who are resident in the EU or Schengen zone, which is why this group is exempt from EES checks. They will instead be required to show their passport and residency permit/visa when crossing a border, just as they do now.

In its explanations of how EES will work, the European Commission is clear – exempt groups include non-EU residents of the Bloc.

A Commission spokesman told The Local: “Non-EU citizens residing in the EU are not in the scope of the EES and will not be subject to pre-enrollment of data in the EES via self-service systems. The use of automation remains under the responsibility of the Member States and its availability in border crossing points is not mandatory.

“When crossing the borders, holders of EU residence permits should be able to present to the border authorities their valid travel documents and residence permits.”

How this will work

How this will work on the ground, however, is a lot less clear.

Most ports/airports/terminals have two passport queues – EU and non-EU. It remains unclear whether the non-EU queue will have a separate section for those who are exempt from EES.

It does seem clear that exempt groups will not be able to use the automated passport scanners – since those cannot scan additional documents like residency permits – but should instead use manned passport booths. However it is not clear whether these will be available at all airports/ports/terminals or how non-EU residents of the EU will be directed to those services.

There’s also the issue that individual border guards are not always clear on the processes and rules for non-EU residents of the EU – even under the current system it’s relatively commonly for EU residents to have their passports incorrectly stamped or be given incorrect information about passport stamping by border guards.

Brits in particular will remember the immediate post-Brexit period when the processes as described by the EU and national authorities frequently did not match what was happening on the ground.

The Local will continue to try and get answers on these questions. 

READ ALSO What will EES mean for dual nationals

What if I live in the EU but I don’t have a visa/residency permit?

For most non-EU citizens, having either a visa or a residency permit is obligatory in order to be legally resident.

However, there is one exception: UK citizens who were legally resident in the EU prior to the end of the Brexit transition period and who live in one of the “declaratory” countries where getting a post-Brexit residency card was optional, rather than compulsory. Declaratory countries include Germany and Italy.

Although it is legal for people in this situation to live in those countries without a residency permit, authorities already advise people to get one in order to avoid confusion/hassle/delays at the border. Although EES does not change any rules relating to residency or travel, it seems likely that it will be more hassle to travel without a residency card than it is now.

Our advice? Things are going to be chaotic enough, getting a residency permit seems likely to save you a considerable amount of hassle.

Delays 

Although residents of the EU do not need to complete EES formalities, they will be affected if the new system causes long queues or delays at the border.

Several countries have expressed worries about this, with the UK-France border a particular cause for concern.

READ ALSO Travellers could face ’14 hours queues’ at UK-France border

Where does it apply?

EES is about external EU/Schengen borders, so does not apply if you are travelling within the Schengen zone – eg taking the train from France to Germany or flying from Spain to Sweden.

Ireland and Cyprus, despite being in the EU, are not in the Schengen zone so will not be using EES, they will continue to stamp passports manually.

Norway, Switzerland and Iceland – countries that are in the Schengen zone but not in the EU – will be using EES.

The full list of countries using EES is: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Therefore a journey between any of the countries listed above will not be covered by EES.

However a journey in or out of any of those countries from a country not listed above will be covered by EES.

You can find our full Q&A on EES HERE.

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