In short: unemployment benefit in Spain works for foreigners on the same rules as for any worker. You need at least 360 days of unemployment contributions in the previous 6 years, to lose your job without quitting, to register as a job seeker and to apply to SEPE within the next 15 working days. You must also live legally with a residence and work permit. The benefit lasts 120 to 720 days and pays 70% of your base for the first 180 days and 60% afterwards.
In person or by representative? Mixed. You apply at the SEPE electronic office with Cl@ve or a certificate, at the benefits office with a SEPE appointment, at any public registry or by administrative post. SEPE accepts another person filing on your behalf, with a document showing the representation. Job seeker registration is separate, at your region's employment service.
Who qualifies
The General Social Security Law (arts. 266 and 268) and the SEPE page on the contributory benefit require:
- At least 360 days of unemployment contributions in the 6 years before losing your job.
- Being in a legal unemployment situation, explained in the next section.
- Registering as a job seeker, signing the activity agreement (acuerdo de actividad) and staying registered while you receive it: how to register as a foreigner.
- Being affiliated and registered, or in an equivalent situation, with Social Security.
- Not having reached the ordinary retirement age.
- Not working as self-employed or full-time as an employee while you receive it, except in the programmes that allow it.
What counts as legal unemployment and what does not
- It counts (art. 267.1): dismissal, including collective or for objective reasons, and the end of a temporary contract that you did not end yourself. So do termination in the trial period by the employer in some cases, and the death, retirement or incapacity of an individual employer.
- Voluntary resignation does not count (art. 267.2.a). Quitting to receive the benefit or to start a business does not work. The exceptions are few: a transfer or a substantial change of conditions that the law lets you use to end the contract, a serious breach by the employer or gender violence (art. 267.1.a.5.º).
- It also does not count if you do not sign the activity agreement, or if you do not go back to work when a final court ruling reinstates you.
If you are a foreigner
- SEPE grants the benefit to foreigners who live legally in Spain, meet the requirements and are registered as job seekers.
- Without a residence and work permit there is no benefit, even if you have worked (Organic Law 4/2000, art. 36.5).
- Temporary protection: the resolution includes the residence and work authorisation (Order PCM/169/2022, art. 5.1), so with 360 days of contributions you have the same right. Your TIE is valid until 4 March 2027 (Order INT/96/2026); if the benefit continues after that date, it depends on the next TIE extension.
- Identity document: SEPE asks for the original TIE with a photo, plus your passport. EU citizens show their passport or ID document and the registration certificate with the NIE.
- Renewing your permit: having received the contributory benefit is one of the cases the law takes into account to renew the residence and work authorisation (Organic Law 4/2000, art. 38.6.b).
How long it lasts
It depends on the days of unemployment contributions in the previous 6 years (art. 269.1):
| Days contributed | Days of benefit |
|---|---|
| 360 to 539 | 120 |
| 540 to 719 | 180 |
| 720 to 899 | 240 |
| 900 to 1,079 | 300 |
| 1,080 to 1,259 | 360 |
| 1,260 to 1,439 | 420 |
| 1,440 to 1,619 | 480 |
| 1,620 to 1,799 | 540 |
| 1,800 to 1,979 | 600 |
| 1,980 to 2,159 | 660 |
| from 2,160 | 720 |
How much you receive
- 70% of your reference base for the first 180 days and 60% from day 181 (art. 270.2). The reference base is the average of your unemployment contribution base over the last 180 days, without overtime.
- 2026 minimum: €560 a month without dependent children and €749 with children.
- 2026 maximum: €1,225 without children, €1,400 with 1 child and €1,575 with 2 or more (2026 amounts, SEPE).
- These limits come from the IPREM, which stays at €600 a month because the 2023 budget (Law 31/2022) is still extended.
- Your share of the Social Security contribution and, where applicable, IRPF withholding are deducted from the payment. How to declare the benefit in your tax return is in the card on the tax return if you receive unemployment benefit.
Example (illustration, not a SEPE calculation). You worked 3 years in a row, about 1,095 days of contributions, with an average base of €1,500 a month. You get 360 days of benefit: about €1,050 a month for the first 6 months and about €900 for the next 6. That is about €11,700 gross in total, before deductions. These are round figures: 1 month is 30 days.
Contributory benefit or subsidy. This card is about the contributory benefit, which depends on what you contributed. The subsidy (subsidio) is a different, lower payment: in 2026, between €480 and €570 a month depending on the case. It is for people who used up their benefit or have under 360 days of contributions and meet its requirements, and it depends on your income.
Deadlines
- Apply within 15 working days of your last day of work. If the employer paid you for untaken holidays, the deadline starts when that period ends.
- If you apply late, it is granted from the application date and you lose the days of delay (art. 268.2).
- SEPE has 15 days from the application to decide and 10 more days to notify you.
While you receive it. Stay registered as a job seeker and keep the activity agreement; the obligations and free courses are in the card on free SEPE courses for unemployed people. If you want to become an autónomo with your benefit, see unemployment benefit as an autónomo.
Documents
- The official application form, which includes the activity agreement.
- A valid TIE with a photo and your passport; EU citizens, a passport or ID document and the registration certificate with the NIE; family members of EU citizens, their residence card.
- A bank document showing the account in your name.
- Family book or birth certificate of dependent children, with an official translation if it is foreign.
- Employer certificate for the jobs of the last 6 months, if the employer did not send it to SEPE.
Steps
- Check that you have 360 days of contributions in the last 6 years and that you lost your job without quitting.
- Register as a job seeker with your region's employment service (LABORA in the Valencian Community).
- Apply to SEPE within the next 15 working days, at the electronic office or with an appointment.
- Sign the activity agreement and keep the application receipt.
- Check the decision and stay registered while you receive the benefit.
Informational only; check the official source and a professional for your specific case.