Birth and childcare benefit in Spain (maternity and paternity leave)

It is the cash benefit paid by the Seguridad Social (the Spanish social security system), through the INSS or through the Instituto Social de la Marina for sea workers, while a parent's employment contract or self employed activity is suspended in order to care for a newborn, adopted or fostered child. It merged the old maternity and paternity leave benefits into a single benefit.

It is an individual and non transferable right: each parent takes their own leave and cannot pass it on to the other. It covers employees and autónomos (self employed workers registered in Spain), and public employees covered by the Régimen General (the general Social Security scheme) for all purposes, provided they meet the registration and contribution requirements. Civil servants under mutualismo administrativo (MUFACE, ISFAS or MUGEJU), including those who since 2011 contribute to the Régimen General for their pension, keep their pay during the leave and do not claim this benefit from the INSS.

While you are on leave you do not receive your usual payroll from your employer: you receive this benefit, paid to you directly by the INSS and calculated at 100% of your base reguladora.

After the extension introduced by Real Decreto-ley 9/2025, de 29 de julio (the Spanish decree that extended this leave), in force since 31 July 2025, each parent is entitled to 19 weeks. In single parent families the leave is extended to 32 weeks.

For couples, the 19 weeks are split as follows: 6 compulsory weeks, taken without interruption and full time, immediately after the birth (or after the court or administrative decision in adoption, guardianship and fostering cases); 11 flexible weeks that can be taken until the child turns 12 months (in adoption and fostering, within the 12 months following the decision); and 2 additional childcare weeks, also taken flexibly, until the child turns 8.

In single parent families, the 32 weeks are split into 6 compulsory weeks, 22 flexible weeks until the child turns 12 months and 4 additional weeks until the child turns 8.

The leave is extended in these cases: one more week for each parent if the child has a disability, and another for each parent for every child after the first in a multiple birth, adoption or fostering (in single parent families, the sole parent takes both weeks of each extension). If the newborn stays in hospital for more than 7 days after the birth, the leave is extended by as many days as the stay lasts, up to a maximum of 13 weeks.

The flexible and additional weeks can be taken continuously or in separate blocks, in whole weeks, and part time if your employer agrees; you must give your employer at least 15 days' notice. The biological mother can start up to 4 of the flexible weeks before the expected date of birth.

At the start of each period of leave you must be registered with the Seguridad Social, or in a situation treated as equivalent to being registered. Autónomos must also be up to date with their contribution payments.

The minimum contribution period required depends on the parent's age at the time of the birth or of the court decision (if the biological mother brings her leave forward, her age when it starts): if you are under 21, no prior contribution period is required of you.

If you are 21 to 25, you need 90 days contributed within the 7 years immediately beforehand, or 180 days contributed over your whole working life.

If you are 26 or over, you need 180 days contributed within the 7 years immediately beforehand, or 360 days contributed over your whole working life.

If you do not reach that minimum but meet the other requirements, you can receive the non contributory birth and childcare subsidy: 100% of the IPREM (Spain's public income reference index), or your base reguladora if it is lower, during the 6 weeks of compulsory leave. It is extended by 14 calendar days for a large family (familia numerosa), a single parent family, a multiple birth, adoption or fostering, or a disability of 65% or more. The extension applies only once, even if several of these circumstances apply.

The benefit is 100% of the base reguladora. If you are an employee, that base is, as a general rule, your contribution base for common contingencies from the second month before the birth, adoption or fostering (if the child is born in May, the March one), divided by the days that contribution covers, or by 30 if you are paid monthly and were registered for the whole month. If you work part time or on a fijo discontinuo contract (a permanent contract for seasonal or intermittent work), your contribution bases with the employer for the twelve months before the month preceding the birth month are added together and divided by 365 (or by the calendar days those bases cover, if there are fewer than twelve months). If you are an autónomo, your contribution bases for the six months before the month preceding the birth month (for a birth in May, October to March) are added together and divided by 180, or by the days you were registered if you were not registered for all six months.

The benefit is exempt from IRPF (Spanish personal income tax) in territorio común (the regions under the general State tax system), and the INSS pays it without withholding, including to residents of the Basque Country. Navarre applies its own foral tax rules, and the INSS lets you choose the withholding applied.

Payment is made directly by the INSS, by bank transfer to the account you provide, monthly for as long as the leave lasts.

The leave has two sides: the suspension of your contract, which is notified to your employer, and the cash benefit, which is claimed from the INSS. The claim can be filed from the day after the birth or adoption and up to 5 years later; a biological mother who brings her leave forward can claim up to 4 weeks before the birth. It is best not to delay: payment can only be backdated by a maximum of 3 months from the date of the claim.

You can apply online through the Tu Seguridad Social portal or the INSS benefits portal (with a digital certificate, with Cl@ve, the Spanish government's online identity system, or, on the portal that works without a certificate, by providing your documents), by post to the INSS provincial office, or in person with a prior appointment.

The basic documents are your DNI or NIE (the Spanish identity number for foreigners), the employer certificate, which your employer sends itself through the Sistema RED (the Social Security's electronic system for employers), and your bank details. Depending on the case, you add the maternity report from the public health service (if the mother starts her leave before the birth), the libro de familia or the birth certificate (if the birth is not yet recorded electronically in the Registro Civil, the Spanish register of births, marriages and deaths), the adoption or fostering decision, or the newborn's hospital certificate.

Managora gathers your documents, completes the official form and files the claim with the INSS for you, and lets you know when the benefit has been granted. You can see the current price of the service on the service page.

The 2 additional childcare weeks (4 in single parent families) are the main new feature of Real Decreto-ley 9/2025. They are also paid at 100% of the base reguladora and can be taken flexibly, in whole weeks, until the child turns 8.

If the child was born, or the adoption or fostering took effect, on or after 31 July 2025, these weeks are already part of the 19 week leave. Each parent claims them as a successive period, no more than 15 days in advance and after giving their employer at least 15 days' notice.

There is a retroactive effect: if the birth, adoption or fostering took place between 2 August 2024 and 30 July 2025, you are also entitled to these weeks (4 in single parent families), which can be claimed from 1 January 2026 without a new recognition of the right. In those cases, with two parents, the total leave is 18 weeks for each of them, because the flexible block in the first year was then 10 weeks; in single parent families, the 4 weeks are added to the leave already granted.