# Spanish pension



## Meandonlyme (Nov 5, 2018)

Hi all,
I am new here and I have a question about pensions in UK and Spain.

I will be coming up to retirement in a few years, my Enlish pension is all in hand, the query I have is about my Spanish pension.

I worked in Spain for 19 years, paying social security. I have heard that a pension can be claimed after 15 years, but one of the 'requirements' is that 2 years must be in the last few years before retirement.

I am now back in the UK and self employed.

My question is , would I need to work come and work in Spain over the next 4 years or so.
I could do 6 monyhs work in UK and 6 months in spain.

That would add up to 2 years, and then I could claim a Spanish pension.

I would be mindful of not passing 183 days as I want to stay a UK fiscal resident.

Quite a complicated post for a first timer, I hope someone can point shed some light before I look for professional advice.

I would like to have some information at hand, so I can ask relevant questions and not be totally in the dark.

Thanks.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

I think your information is more or less correct in that you are entitled to the contribution based Spanish pension after 15 years and I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that you do need to contribute during the last 10 (or maybe 15?) years before rertirement age. However I also read somewhere that you can contribute towards your Spanish state pension voluntarily, even if you are not working, and even after retirement age. I'm not sure if you can do this if you are not resident in Spain though. You'd probably need some professional advice on this.

Also there is currently the EU system whereby you can make those 19 years count towards your UK pension, or make your UK years count towards your Spanish pension, but I'm not sure how beneficial this would be in your situation or how it will be affected by Brexit.


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## Nomoss (Nov 25, 2016)

The bit about having to be working currently or during the last x years in Spain in order to qualify for a pension there is rubbish.

If you are living in the UK you claim your Spanish pension via the UK.

If you have not worked enough years in a particular EU country alone to qualify for a pension there, years worked in other EU countries will be taken into account in order to qualify for, but not to increase the amount you get from any particular country.

Unless the rules have changed since I claimed my Spanish pension (2003), it is not possible to make voluntary contributions there.

The current EU rules for those in the UK are set out below. They require careful reading, as many people don't seem capable of understanding them on the first reading

https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/living-and-working-overseas


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

Nomoss said:


> The bit about having to be working currently or during the last x years in Spain in order to qualify for a pension there is rubbish.
> 
> If you are living in the UK you claim your Spanish pension via the UK.
> 
> ...


In the event of a Hard Brexit the UK drops out of the EU and also says she wants nothing to do with the
EEA either.
Therefore I assume the UK would have to start coming to a Social Security Agreement ( also called bilateral
agreements or reciprocal agreements ) with each individual EU 27 country, after a Hard Brexit.

To tell you the truth I wouldn't hold your breath and expect such agreements to be in place after Brexit. 
As usual the small man in the street - which in this case is the small British man in the street,
who also happens to have worked in Europe, gets stuffed as a low priority case.

No doubt there are other, maybe hundreds of thousand's of Brits who have worked abroad ( but specifically
in the EU ) who will be left in the dark. No doubt those worst hit will be those Brits who were unable
to work the minimum number of years in their EU Country and would have qualified for the pro-rata 
amount of the minimum number of years pensions entitlement in such EU Countries - if only the UK
had voted to remain in the EU and therefore still counted as EU Citizens.

As it stands those worst hit ( after the UK leaves the EU ) might end up with nothing !!


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

Nomoss said:


> The bit about having to be working currently or during the last x years in Spain in order to qualify for a pension there is rubbish.


https://www.expatica.com/new/es/finance/retirement/pensions-846584/

"In order to qualify for the minimum state Spanish pension, you must have worked and paid Spanish social security contributions for at least 15 years. In order to claim a full Spanish pension rate, however, you must have worked and contributed for at least 35 years and six months. An additional condition is that at least two years must be within the 15 year period immediately preceding the pension claim..."

Are you sure you are not talking rubbish?



Nomoss said:


> If you are living in the UK you claim your Spanish pension via the UK.
> 
> If you have not worked enough years in a particular EU country alone to qualify for a pension there, years worked in other EU countries will be taken into account in order to qualify for, but not to increase the amount you get from any particular country.
> 
> ...


You're confusing the EU system for claiming state pensions from different countries with the Spanish state pension, which is clearly what the OP was talking about.

Yes the OP _could_ use the EU system to make the 19 years worked in Spain count as years towards their UK pension, but that's not the same as claiming the Spanish state pension, and it might not be in the OP's interests to do so.

Instead the OP might be able to claim the Spanish state pension as well as the UK state pension, independently, provided they have made enough contributions in each country.


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## Nomoss (Nov 25, 2016)

The information I posted is not rubbish for EU citizens under the current regulations.

I am not confusing the EU system for claiming state pensions from different countries with the Spanish state pension.

I am also not assuming that the entire system of reciprocal welfare and pension rights will suddenly collapse if the UK leaves the EU without an agreement, nor that this event will even occur.

The OP is clearly eligible to claim under the EU system in order to be entitled to a Spanish pension, without being required to meet the requirements for a Spanish pension alone.

My wife worked less than 10 years in Spain, but still receives a Spanish pension because the years for which she made payments in the UK made up her qualifying years for a Spanish pension under the proportional system.

I apologise if it was incorrect for me to assume that the OP, as I did, will be claiming their pensions under the current rules, and that the EU rules on accumulation of pension rights in different EU countries override Spanish rules requiring recent payments in Spain.

The OP said that their UK pension is "all in hand", so I assumed that they were going to claim before the Brexit implementation period ends.

It should not be a disadvantage for the OP to claim from both countries under the proportional system, as each country pays the higher amount of either the proportional or the single country calculation.


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## Meandonlyme (Nov 5, 2018)

Thank you all for your input, the point about brexit is a very valid one.
Although I am pinning my hopes on that the status quo is relatively unchanged. Fingers crossed.

I don't want for my Spanish contributions to be added to my UK pension, as this would not result in many more pounds in my pocket.

I like Choperas post stating that claiming a Spanish pension in its own right is the best way forward.

I was wondering if it would he best to make my self a Spanish resident a year prior to retiring.

I wonder if any other posters have heard of such cases.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

Meandonlyme said:


> Thank you all for your input, the point about brexit is a very valid one.
> Although I am pinning my hopes on that the status quo is relatively unchanged. Fingers crossed.
> 
> I don't want for my Spanish contributions to be added to my UK pension, as this would not result in many more pounds in my pocket.
> ...


I have heard of cases where people are struggling to make those 2 years of payments in the final 15 years before retirement...

Here's an example of a woman who "officially" stopped working 23 years before retirement and is being asked to pay a lump sum of €12000 in order to qualify for her pension...

https://www.publico.es/sociedad/amas-casa-me-pago-mi.html

The implication is you don't actually have to work those 2 years if you are able to hand over the equivalent social security payments as a lump sum. 

I'll try to hunt around for more information on this, I'm sure more of these cases will keep arising as it isn't a particularly unusual situation.


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## Meandonlyme (Nov 5, 2018)

Thanks Choperas, that's very useful to know. Eres un tesoro.


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

I think this might be helpful:

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/retire-abroad/state-pensions-abroad/index_en.htm

It explains the procedure for applying for pensions if you have worked in more than one EU country, with several useful case studies and calculations.


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