Confirmed: You could lose your pension even if you have 40 years of contributions if you do not prove two within the last 15 years.

The Spanish pension system has some nuances that often go unnoticed. One of the most controversial is that a worker who has accumulated 40 years of contributions is not guaranteed a contributory pension .

In addition to being in active or similar status, the General Social Security Law establishes two other essential conditions in its article 205.1.b to be eligible for a contributory pension:

• Generic deficiency : having at least 15 years of contributions throughout one's working life.
• Specific deficiency : having contributed for at least two years within the last 15 years . That is, the years immediately prior to applying for retirement.

Thus, it's not enough to have worked your entire life to qualify for a pension. For example, a person who stopped paying into Social Security at age 52 after 35 years of contributions and wants to retire at age 67 (15 years later) would not be entitled to a contributory pension.

The specific deficiency may primarily affect people who left the labor market early and were unable to return to work, self -employed workers who ceased their activity and did not resume their contributions, emigrants who worked abroad and failed to correctly total their contribution periods, and people who are long-term unemployed without benefits.

There is an exception for those who retire from a situation similar to retirement, where there is no obligation to contribute. For example, when they enter retirement through a special agreement or during certain types of leave . In these cases, the 15-year period is not counted from the date the pension is requested, but from the date the obligation to contribute ceased .

Options for people who do not meet the specific requirement

People who fail to meet the requirement can still apply for a non-contributory pension . However, this offers minimal coverage and is much less than what would be required for a full-time career.

Another option to access the contributory pension is to apply for it later , provided you meet the required requirements . The right to retirement does not expire in Spain, so there is no upper age limit after which you can no longer retire from the labor market.