Parental leave by country / Spain
Maternity, paternity and parental leave in Spain
How long each parent can be away, who pays and how much, the notice rules and the job protection — in plain English, whether you run a team in Spain or work on one.
Spain gives each parent the same leave for birth and care of a child: 19 weeks since the 2025 reform, paid by Social Security at 100% of the contribution base. Six weeks must be taken full-time immediately after the birth, 11 can be spread over the child's first year, and two more can be taken any time until the child is eight. Single-parent families get 32 weeks. Either parent may also take unpaid excedencia to care for the child for up to three years with a guaranteed return.
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How it works
The permiso por nacimiento y cuidado del menor equalised mothers' and fathers' leave in 2021 at 16 weeks each. Real Decreto-ley 9/2025, in force from 30 July 2025 and confirmed by Congress in September 2025, raised it to 19 weeks per parent: six mandatory and uninterrupted weeks immediately after the birth, adoption or fostering, eleven flexible weeks to be used before the child turns twelve months, and two additional weeks — four for single parents, who get 32 in total — that may be taken until the child is eight and can be claimed from 1 January 2026, retroactively for births from 2 August 2024. The benefit is paid by the INSS at 100% of the regulatory base, with no employer contribution, and is exempt from income tax. Beyond this, the Estatuto provides unpaid excedencia por cuidado de hijos of up to three years with the right to return, the first year to the same post, and an unpaid parental leave of eight weeks until the child is eight.
Worth knowing: Spain is one of the few countries where both parents have an identical, fully paid, non-transferable entitlement; the two extra weeks under the 2025 reform are the first that can be used well beyond the first year.
If you run a team in Spain
Register the leave and issue the company certificate for the INSS claim; you do not pay the benefit but continue Social Security contributions on the normal base. The contract is suspended, dismissal during the leave is null unless justified on unrelated grounds, and the employee returns to the same post. Annual leave accrues in full and untaken leave is taken after the permiso even if the year has ended.
If you work in Spain
Apply to the INSS for the prestación with your employer's certificate; the six weeks after the birth are compulsory and full-time. Plan the remaining weeks with your employer, at least 15 days ahead, in weekly blocks. The two extra weeks until age eight can be requested from January 2026 for children born from 2 August 2024.
Parental leave and annual leave
Annual leave accrues during the permiso por nacimiento and, if the leave year ends while the employee is away, the untaken holiday is taken afterwards. Excedencia periods count for seniority but not for holiday accrual.
The annual leave entitlement itself is covered on our Spain annual leave page — 22 working days minimum.
Keeping the record straight
Long leaves are where leave records go wrong quietly: holiday that kept accruing for months and was never credited, a return date nobody diarised, a reduced entitlement applied where the law forbids it. In Spain the rules above decide what is owed on return, and the record has to show it. A tracker like Leavo keeps the leave, the accrual and the approvals in one place so the return is a date, not a dispute. We compare the options in our leave management software guide, and the policy side — carryover, payout, accrual — in our guides.
Parental leave in Spain: common questions
Is the leave transferable between parents?
No. Each parent has their own 19 weeks; they cannot be pooled or transferred, except that single-parent families receive 32 weeks.
How much is the benefit?
100% of the regulatory contribution base, paid by the INSS, tax-exempt. There is no ceiling below the general Social Security maximum base.
Can the weeks be taken part-time?
The six mandatory weeks must be full-time. The remaining weeks can be taken full- or part-time by agreement with the employer, in weekly blocks, with 15 days' notice.
Does annual leave accrue during maternity or parental leave in Spain?
Annual leave accrues during the permiso por nacimiento and, if the leave year ends while the employee is away, the untaken holiday is taken afterwards. Excedencia periods count for seniority but not for holiday accrual.
Source
Primary source: Estatuto de los Trabajadores art. 48; Ley General de la Seguridad Social; Real Decreto-ley 9/2025. Benefit rates and ceilings change every year and collective agreements frequently improve on the statutory scheme — confirm against the current text before acting. See our methodology.