Spain Unemployment Benefit Calculator 2026

Indicative estimate of the General Scheme contributory benefit after the end of a contract, with the 2026 caps. It excludes income tax withholding, partial unemployment under an ERTE, seasonal (fijo discontinuo) workers, special schemes and the lump-sum payment. SEPE sets the final amount from the bases in the company certificate.

Who is entitled: requirements

The contributory unemployment benefit, which everyone in Spain calls "el paro", is funded by the contributions paid while you were working. Under article 266 of the General Social Security Act (LGSS), you must:

• Have contributed for at least 360 days to unemployment insurance in the six years before becoming unemployed, not counting days already used for an earlier benefit.
• Be legally unemployed (situación legal de desempleo): dismissal (disciplinary, objective or collective), the end of a fixed-term contract, termination during a probation period by the employer in some cases, or leaving after relocation, a substantial change of conditions or serious breaches by the employer.
• Register as a jobseeker and sign the activity agreement (acuerdo de actividad), committing to look for work and accept suitable job offers.
• Be under the ordinary retirement age, unless you do not have enough contributions for a pension.

Voluntary resignation does not qualify (article 267.2 LGSS). Neither does an unfair dismissal if you then refuse reinstatement when the employer takes you back. If you lost your job involuntarily but contributed for less than 360 days, you may qualify for the insufficient-contribution subsidy if you contributed at least 90 days and meet the income or family requirements.

How long the benefit lasts, by days contributed

The duration follows the scale in article 269.1 LGSS: every 180 days contributed above 360 adds 60 days of benefit, up to a maximum of two years.

Three details change the result more than you might expect:

• Only unused contributions count. If you already claimed benefit, the days that generated it do not count again, even if you did not use it all. Your available days start after your last benefit.
• Part-time days count in full. For the duration, SEPE counts each day under contract as one contributed day, whatever the working hours. Part-time work does reduce the regulatory base and the caps.
• Untaken holiday adds days. If your employer pays untaken holiday in the final settlement, that period counts as contributed and the benefit starts when it ends.

To find your exact days, download your employment history report (informe de vida laboral) from the Social Security e-office and add up the days registered in the last six years that have not generated another benefit. The calculator also accepts years and months and gives an approximation.

How the amount is calculated: regulatory base, 70% and 60%

The starting point is the regulatory base (base reguladora): the average of your unemployment contribution bases over the last 180 days worked (article 270.1). That base appears on your payslip as the occupational contingencies or unemployment base: monthly salary plus the prorated share of extra payments, excluding overtime. In 2026 it cannot exceed €5,101.20 a month nor, for full-time work, fall below €1,424.40.

The daily regulatory base is the monthly base divided by 30. SEPE then applies:

• 70% for the first 180 days of benefit.
• 60% from day 181 until the end.

The result is then adjusted to the minimum and maximum caps, which depend on dependent children. If you are paid in 14 instalments and do not have your contribution base to hand, multiply the gross monthly salary by 14 and divide by 12; that is what the calculator does when you choose 14 payments. This table shows the gross monthly amount, without children, for several bases:

From a base of €1,750, 70% already exceeds the no-children maximum (€1,225.00), so you will receive the cap for the first six months; 60% reaches it from about €2,042.

Maximum and minimum unemployment benefit in 2026

The caps are based on the monthly IPREM plus one sixth (article 270.3 LGSS). In 2026 the 2023 State Budget is still extended and the IPREM remains at €600 a month, so the reference is €700.00. These are the full-time amounts, matching those published by SEPE for 2026:

Dependent children are those under 26, adult children with a disability and fostered minors who live with you or depend on you financially and do not earn more per month than the minimum wage.

If the job you lost was part-time, the caps are reduced in proportion to the hours worked over the last 180 days: on a half-time contract the no-children maximum is halved. Enter your working-time percentage under "More options".

Example: €1,700 a month in 14 payments and 4 years contributed

A person with no children who earned €1,700 gross a month in 14 payments loses their job with 1,460 days (four years) contributed in the last six years:

1. Duration: 1,460 days fall in the 1,440–1,619 band, giving 480 days (16 months).
2. Monthly contribution base: 1,700 × 14 / 12 = €1,983.33. Daily regulatory base: €66.11.
3. First 180 days: 70% would be €1,388.33 a month, but that exceeds the no-children maximum, so they receive €1,225.00.
4. Day 181 to 480: 60% is €1,190.00 a month, below the cap.
5. Their contribution: 4.85% of €1,983.33 = €96.19 a month, leaving €1,128.81 for the first six months and €1,093.81 afterwards, before income tax.

In total they will receive €19,250.00 gross (€17,710.93 after the contribution). With one dependent child the maximum rises to €1,400.00 and 70% is no longer capped: €1,388.33 for the first six months and €20,230.00 in total.

Had the same person worked half-time earning €850 a month in 14 payments, their base would be €991.67 and 70% would be €694.17. But on half time the maximum is also halved, to €612.50: they would receive €612.50 for the first six months and €595.00 afterwards.

Deductions: Social Security contribution and income tax

You keep contributing while on benefit. SEPE pays your Social Security contributions, covers the share your employer used to pay and deducts yours (article 273.1 LGSS). The contribution base is your regulatory base, not the amount you receive, and in 2026 your share is 4.85%: 4.70% common contingencies and 0.15% Intergenerational Equity Mechanism. As the contract has ended, no unemployment, training, FOGASA or workplace accident contributions are paid. These contributions count towards your future pension, but not towards a new unemployment benefit.

The deduction applies in full even if you receive the maximum or minimum: on a base of €1,983.33 it is €96.19 a month in both periods.

The benefit is subject to income tax (IRPF) as employment income, and SEPE withholds tax where applicable. If you had another payer during the year, you may have to file a tax return at a lower income than with a single payer, and SEPE's withholding may fall short. You can estimate the year's tax with the Spain income tax calculator.

Working while receiving benefit

The contributory benefit is incompatible with full-time employment and with self-employment, but there are two ways to combine it with a job:

• Part-time work (article 282.2 LGSS): you can keep receiving benefit if you ask for it; SEPE deducts the share matching your working hours. If you apply within 15 working days of starting the job, it applies from the first day.
• Employment support supplement (additional provision 59 LGSS, from Royal Decree-law 2/2024): benefits that started on or after 1 April 2025 and last more than twelve months are compatible, from the tenth month, with employment even full-time. SEPE has applied it automatically since January 2026. For a full-time job the supplement is 80% of the IPREM (€480 a month) in months 10 to 15, then 60%, 40% and 30%. Each day of supplement uses up a day of benefit, it lasts up to 180 days and you can opt out.

How and when to apply

1. Deadline: 15 working days from the day after your last day of work. If your employer paid untaken holiday, the deadline starts when that period ends. If you apply late, you lose as many days of benefit as pass after the deadline (article 268.2 LGSS).
2. Registration: register as a jobseeker with your region's public employment service; the application includes the activity agreement.
3. Application: on SEPE's e-office with a digital certificate, Cl@ve or the pre-application form, or with an appointment at your benefits office.
4. Documents: DNI or NIE, a bank account in your name, the family book if you have children and, if your employer has not sent it, the company certificate (certificado de empresa).

Your employer must send SEPE the company certificate with your contribution bases for the last 180 days, which is what sets your regulatory base. Once approved, the benefit is paid in 30-day monthly instalments between the 10th and 15th of the following month. Check your final settlement too with the severance calculator: untaken holiday delays the start of the benefit.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Texto refundido de la Ley General de la Seguridad Social, arts. 266 a 273, 274, 282 y disposición adicional 59ª (BOE-A-2015-11724, texto consolidado)
• Ley 31/2022, de Presupuestos Generales del Estado para 2023, disposición adicional 90ª: IPREM (BOE-A-2022-22128)
• Orden PJC/297/2026, de 30 de marzo, de cotización a la Seguridad Social para 2026, arts. 2, 4, 8, 16 y 33 (BOE-A-2026-7296)
• Real Decreto-ley 2/2024, de 21 de mayo, reforma del nivel asistencial y complemento de apoyo al empleo (BOE-A-2024-10235)
• SEPE: Cuantías anuales 2026 (IPREM, topes de la prestación contributiva, cotización 4,85 %)
• SEPE: Prestación contributiva (requisitos, cuantía, hijos a cargo, plazo y cómo solicitarla)

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