---
title: "Spain Working Time and Leave 2026 | Hours, Leave, Holidays"
description: "Spain 2026: 40 hours week, no opt-out. 22 days leave plus 14 holidays. Equal 19-week parental leave. Sick pay from day four."
canonical: https://www.teamed.global/country-hiring-guides/spain/working-time-and-leave
---

Spain · Working time child

Served by Teamed vetted partner-entity network in Spain

# How do *Spain working time and leave* rules work in 2026?

Spain sets a hard 40 hours ordinary working week with no individual opt-out. Annual leave is 22 days of working days, separate from 14 public holidays. From 2026, both parents receive an equal 19 weeks of paid parental leave.

Last reviewed 13 June 2026 · Spain guide

![A sunlit Spanish city square with people at outdoor cafe tables and an ornate historic building in the background.](/images/country-guides/spain-working-time-and-leave.webp)

Illustration · Spain

Answer.cite this

Spain working time is governed by the Estatuto de los Trabajadores (Real Decreto Legislativo 2/2015).

The maximum ordinary working week is 40 hours. There is no individual opt-out. Employers and workers cannot agree to exceed this limit.

Annual leave is 22 days of working days per year. Public holidays are separate and on top of that total. Spain has 14 public holidays each year.

From 2026, both the birth parent and the co-parent are entitled to 19 weeks of paid parental leave. This is a major recent change.

![A wall calendar with leave days marked and a cup of coffee beside it.](/images/country-guides/spain-working-time-and-leave-polaroid-1.webp)

Leave calendar

## What is the Spain working-time limit?

The maximum is 40 hours of ordinary work per week. This is a hard cap under Spanish law.

There is no individual opt-out. Both employer and worker are bound by the limit. Collective agreements can shorten it but cannot extend it.

The rules come from the [Estatuto de los Trabajadores, Article 34](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2015-11430). The 40 hours cap applies to **ordinary working time** only. Overtime is regulated separately and requires employee consent.

### Overtime rules

Voluntary overtime above the 40 hours ordinary limit is permitted but tightly controlled:

- Workers must agree to overtime in writing. It cannot be unilaterally imposed.
- The maximum voluntary overtime is 80 hours per year.
- Overtime must be compensated by equivalent paid rest time or at an enhanced pay rate. The minimum enhancement is set by collective agreement.
- Night workers (those working regularly between 10pm and 6am) may not work overtime at all.

### Daily and weekly distribution

The 40 hours week is the annual average. Annual total ordinary hours may not exceed 1,826 hours and 27 minutes (the standard 40-hour week annualised). Collective agreements often set lower annual totals. Many agreements in professional services set 37.5 or even 35 hours per week as the contractual working week.

### Flexible working and remote work

Spain's remote-work law (Royal Decree-Law 28/2020, updated by Law 10/2021) requires a written remote-work agreement for any arrangement exceeding 30% of working time over a three-month reference period. The law applies the same working-time protections to remote workers as to office-based staff. Employers must provide the necessary equipment at their cost.

## What rest periods are Spain workers entitled to?

Workers are entitled to a minimum rest break of 15 minutes when the working day exceeds 6 hours.

Spanish law also guarantees a minimum weekly rest period of one and a half days.

| Rest entitlement | Trigger | Statutory minimum |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Daily break | Working day longer than 6 hours | 15 minutes uninterrupted |
| Daily rest between workdays | Every workday | 12 hours between end of one day and start of the next |
| Weekly rest | Every week | 1.5 days (customarily Saturday afternoon plus Sunday) |
| Young workers (under 18), daily break | Working day longer than 4.5 hours | 30 minutes |
| Young workers (under 18), daily rest | Every workday | 12 hours between workdays |
| Young workers (under 18), weekly rest | Every week | 2 full days |

The minimum 12-hour daily rest requirement is set out in the [Estatuto de los Trabajadores, Article 34](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2015-11430). Collective agreements may negotiate rest periods that are longer, never shorter.

### Annual working-time register

Spain requires employers to keep a daily working-time register (registro de jornada) for every worker. This obligation was strengthened by Royal Decree-Law 8/2019. The register must record the start and end time of each working day. Employers must retain records for four years and make them available to workers and the labour inspection authority on request. Non-compliance carries significant fines.

## How does Spain annual leave work?

The minimum is 22 days of working days per year.

Public holidays are separate from this entitlement. Workers receive 22 days of personal annual leave on top of all public holidays.

The entitlement comes from the [Estatuto de los Trabajadores, Article 38](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2015-11430). The 22 days is measured in working days. For a Monday-to-Friday worker, this is equivalent to about 30 calendar days. Most collective agreements in Spain improve on this minimum, commonly granting 23 to 30 working days of annual leave.

### Annual leave and public holidays are separate

This is the key structural difference from the UK. In Spain, the 22 days of working-day annual leave and the 14 public holidays are entirely separate entitlements. Workers receive both. They are not bundled together. A worker on the statutory minimums receives 22 days personal leave days plus 14 public holidays, totalling a significantly larger leave package than the UK equivalent.

### Carry-over and timing

Annual leave must generally be taken within the leave year. It may not be replaced with pay-in-lieu (except on termination). If the employer and employee cannot agree on dates, the employer can set the dates unilaterally within certain limits, and the worker may seek a court ruling. Collective agreements often set a period (for example, December to January of the following year) during which unused leave may be carried forward. Without a collective agreement provision, the general rule is that leave is lost at year-end if not taken.

If a worker is sick during scheduled annual leave, the sick period does not count as annual leave. The worker can reschedule the leave days they could not take. This rule flows from EU Court of Justice case law and applies in Spain.

### Holiday pay calculation

Holiday pay must reflect normal remuneration. That means base salary plus any regular supplements paid as part of ordinary working. The reference period is typically the previous month or the period agreed in the collective agreement. Variable pay that forms part of normal remuneration (for example, regular commission) must also be included.

## How many Spain public holidays are there?

Spain has 14 paid public holidays per year.

Eight are national, two are set by each autonomous community, and two are set by each local municipality.

The framework comes from the [Estatuto de los Trabajadores, Article 37](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2015-11430) and Real Decreto 2001/1983. The 14 total breaks down as follows: 8 national holidays that apply across all of Spain, plus 2 regional holidays set by each autonomous community, plus 2 local holidays set by each town or city.

| Public holiday | Date (2026) | Level |
| --- | --- | --- |
| New Year's Day (Ano Nuevo) | 1 January | National |
| Epiphany (Reyes Magos) | 6 January | National |
| Good Friday (Viernes Santo) | 3 April | National |
| Labour Day (Dia del Trabajo) | 1 May | National |
| Assumption of Mary (Asuncion) | 15 August | National |
| National Day (Dia de la Hispanidad) | 12 October | National |
| All Saints' Day (Todos los Santos) | 1 November | National |
| Constitution Day (Dia de la Constitucion) | 6 December | National |
| Immaculate Conception (Inmaculada Concepcion) | 8 December | National |
| Christmas Day (Navidad) | 25 December | National |
| Regional holiday 1 | Varies by autonomous community | Regional |
| Regional holiday 2 | Varies by autonomous community | Regional |
| Local holiday 1 | Varies by municipality | Local |
| Local holiday 2 | Varies by municipality | Local |

The national count is 10, not 8, because both Immaculate Conception and Christmas Day are counted within the national allocation. The exact composition of regional and local holidays changes each year. Check the annual calendar published by each autonomous community.

### Working on public holidays

If a worker works on a public holiday, they are entitled to either a substitute rest day or enhanced pay. The rate for working on a public holiday is set by collective agreement. There is no single national statutory rate. Most collective agreements in Spain specify double pay for public holiday work.

## Parental leave in Spain in 2026

Both parents receive 19 weeks of paid parental leave. This is an equal entitlement for birth parent and co-parent.

The leave is paid by Social Security at 100% of the worker's regulatory contribution base. It is not an employer cost.

Spain completed its equal parental leave reform in 2026. Under the [Estatuto de los Trabajadores, Article 48.4](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2015-11430) (as amended by Royal Decree-Law 9/2025), both parents receive 19 weeks of paid leave for birth, adoption, guardianship, or foster placement. This applies to births and adoptions on or after 1 January 2026.

### How the leave is structured

The birth parent must take the first 6 weeks immediately after birth. The remaining 13 weeks can be taken at any time up to the child's 12th birthday. The co-parent also takes the first 6 weeks immediately after birth. The remaining 13 weeks are flexible and can be taken up to the child's 12th birthday. Both parents may use the flexible period simultaneously or separately.

### Who pays

Social Security pays the parental leave benefit at 100% of the worker's regulatory contribution base (base reguladora). The employer does not pay the worker during parental leave. The employer continues to pay its Social Security contributions for the employee during the leave period.

### Adoption and guardianship

The same 19 weeks entitlement applies to adoption and guardianship cases. For multiple births or adoptions, each parent receives an additional 2 weeks per additional child beyond the first.

### Enhanced employer practice

Most multinational employers and many large Spanish companies top up Social Security parental payments to full salary during the leave period, particularly for the birth parent. This is a contractual enhancement and is not required by law. Collective agreements in some sectors mandate enhanced payments above the Social Security floor.

## Statutory sick pay in Spain

The first three days of sick leave are unpaid. Social Security sick pay (incapacidad temporal) starts from the fourth day.

The employer pays from day four to day fifteen. Social Security takes over from day sixteen.

Spain's sick pay system is governed by the [Ley General de la Seguridad Social (LGSS), Article 173](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2015-11724). The framework has three distinct phases:

| Days of absence | Who pays | Rate |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Days 1 to 3 | Nobody | No pay. These are waiting days. |
| Days 4 to 15 | Employer | 60% of the regulatory base per day |
| Day 16 to day 365 | Social Security | Rises from 60% to 75% of the regulatory base from day 21 |
| Beyond 365 days | Social Security | 75% of regulatory base; extension up to 18 months possible |

The regulatory base (base reguladora) is calculated from the worker's Social Security contributions over the preceding 12 months, divided by 365.

SEPE / Gobierno de Espana: incapacidad temporal

Workers who are unable to work due to illness or accident are entitled to incapacidad temporal benefit from the fourth day of absence. The employer pays from day four to day fifteen at the rate set by Social Security. From day sixteen, the benefit is paid directly by Social Security.

Source: [SEPE: Statutory employee protections in Spain](https://www.sepe.es/HomeSepe/en/que-es-el-sepe/comunicacion-institucional/noticias/detalle-noticia.html?detail=boe-publica-smi-2026&folder=%2FSEPE%2F2026%2FFebrero%2F)

### Employer improvements by collective agreement

Many collective agreements in Spain require the employer to top up Social Security sick pay to 100% of salary from the first day of absence. This is a significant cost for employers whose workforce is covered by a sector collective agreement with a sick-pay supplement. Always check the applicable collective agreement (convenio colectivo) before budgeting for sick pay costs.

### Self-certification and medical certificate

Workers must notify the employer of sickness as soon as possible. A medical certificate (parte de baja) from a doctor must be provided within three days of the start of absence. The certificate is issued by the Spanish public health system (Sistema Nacional de Salud) or a mutual insurance entity (mutua). Subsequent certificates confirming continuation of sickness are issued at intervals set by the relevant authority. A final certificate (parte de alta) is required when the worker returns to work.

## How does Teamed handle Spain employment for you?

Teamed becomes your legal [employer of record](/employer-of-record) in Spain for [**from $599 per employee per month**](/pricing), with **zero FX mark-up** in any currency.

Payroll, leave entitlements, parental-leave notifications, and the full Spain working-time compliance stack run on **one platform**.

**Real HR and legal experts** manage your Spain working-time obligations. That includes the employment contract, the mandatory daily time register, overtime consent tracking, the equal parental leave process, and Social Security sick-pay filings. **An actual person** handles each case, not a chatbot or a pooled queue. There is **no setup fee** and **no exit fee**. Every Social Security contribution and employer cost **passes through at cost, itemised** on every invoice.

Spain's pagas extraordinarias (two extra salary payments per year, at Christmas and summer) are one of the most common surprises for non-Spanish buyers. Teamed handles the calculation and scheduling as part of standard payroll. You are not managing a 14-payment cycle yourself.

EOR payroll, contractor onboarding, and entity setup all live on **one platform**. You can use Teamed until it isn't the right fit and graduate to your own Spain entity at any point. Run the [employer-cost tool](https://www.teamed.global/tools/employer-cost) to see the full Spain employment cost including Social Security and pagas. Start from [the Spain hiring overview](/country-hiring-guides/spain).

Key sources: [Estatuto de los Trabajadores (Real Decreto Legislativo 2/2015)](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2015-11430) and [Ley General de la Seguridad Social (Real Decreto Legislativo 8/2015)](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2015-11724).

1. Share the role and location Tell Teamed the job title, salary, and whether the worker is based in Madrid, Barcelona, or another autonomous community. Regional public holidays and any applicable collective agreement vary by location.
2. Review the employment contract Teamed prepares a compliant Spanish employment contract. It includes the mandatory daily time-register clause, overtime consent, and the pagas extraordinarias schedule.
3. Set up the leave and holiday calendar Teamed configures the correct national, regional, and local public holidays for the worker's location, plus the 22-working-day annual leave entitlement.
4. Handle ongoing payroll and Social Security Monthly payroll runs on one platform. Teamed files Social Security contributions and handles the two extraordinary salary payments each year.
5. Manage leave notifications and sick pay Parental leave and sick pay filings go through Teamed. Your real HR and legal experts handle every notification to Social Security and the return-to-work process.

## Frequently asked questions

What is the maximum working week in Spain?

The maximum is 40 hours of ordinary working time per week. This is a hard cap under the Estatuto de los Trabajadores. There is no individual opt-out. Overtime above this limit is permitted up to 80 hours per year with the worker's written consent, compensated by rest time or enhanced pay.

How much annual leave are employees in Spain entitled to?

The minimum is 22 days of working days per year. This is separate from public holidays. Spain has 14 public holidays per year, which workers receive on top of their 22 days annual leave. Annual leave cannot be replaced with pay-in-lieu while the employment continues.

How does sick pay work in Spain?

The first three days of sickness are unpaid. From day four to day fifteen, the employer pays sick pay at 60% of the worker's regulatory base per day. From day sixteen onwards, Social Security takes over the payment. Many collective agreements require the employer to top up Social Security sick pay to full salary. The applicable collective agreement determines whether a top-up applies.

How much parental leave do employees in Spain get?

Both the birth parent and the co-parent are entitled to 19 weeks of paid parental leave. The leave applies equally to births, adoptions, and guardianship placements from 1 January 2026. Social Security pays the benefit at 100% of the regulatory base. The employer does not pay during the leave period.

Are public holidays in Spain on top of annual leave?

Yes. Spain's 14 public holidays are entirely separate from the 22 days annual leave entitlement. Workers receive both. This is different from the UK, where bank holidays are typically bundled into the annual leave total. The Spanish leave package is therefore larger in absolute terms.

Teamed Legal Operations

The pagas extraordinarias are the biggest payroll surprise for US and UK buyers in Spain. Most assume they are paying 12 months. They are paying 14. The two extra payments are not discretionary bonuses; they are a legal entitlement under the Workers Statute. We walk every client through this before the first Spanish hire.

A note from Tom Price-Daniel

Spain gives both parents 19 weeks of fully paid parental leave. Social Security covers the cost.  
Your Spain employment cost does not go up when a worker has a child. But you need the right processes to handle the notification, the Social Security filings, and the return-to-work correctly.  
That is what Teamed handles for from $599 per employee per month.

Tom Price-Daniel · Co-founder, Teamed

## Related Spain guides

- [Hiring in Spain, overview](/country-hiring-guides/spain)parent
- [Spain hiring guide](/country-hiring-guides/spain/hiring-guide)sibling
- [Spain termination and severance](/country-hiring-guides/spain/termination-and-severance)sibling
- [Spain tax and payroll](/country-hiring-guides/spain/tax-and-payroll)sibling
- [Employer of Record overview](/employer-of-record)core
- [Employer cost tool](https://www.teamed.global/tools/employer-cost)tool
- [Talk to an expert](https://www.teamed.global/contact)CTA

A note on this page.

This is a guide, not legal, tax or accounting advice. Rules change and vary by jurisdiction. Verify current requirements with the Ministerio de Trabajo y Economia Social, the Seguridad Social, and the applicable collective agreement for Spain, or speak to a qualified professional, before relying on any specific framework.