Spain lets pensioners combine their state pension with self-employment from 28 August 2026
Spain has opened up flexible retirement to the self-employed for the first time. Real Decreto 416/2026, published in the BOE on 28 May 2026 and taking effect on 28 August 2026, lets people drawing a contributory retirement pension combine it with trabajo autónomo (self-employment). Until now this “flexible retirement” was available to employees but not to the self-employed. There is one significant condition: it is only open to people who were not registered as autónomo (in the RETA system) in the three years immediately before their pension started. For those who qualify, the compatible pension is set at a flat 25% of the full entitlement while the self-employed activity continues. The decree repeals the earlier RD 1132/2002 and is issued by the Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones.
The self-employed route works differently from the employee one. Employees combining a pension with part-time work have their pension scaled to a 33–80% working day, with additional incentives – that scaling does not apply to the autónomo route, which is a fixed 25%. State civil servants, Armed Forces and Justice Administration personnel fall under their own regimes and are excluded.
Why this matters
For anyone easing towards retirement rather than stopping outright – a common pattern among older remote workers and freelancers in Spain – this creates a legitimate way to keep 25% of your Spanish pension while continuing some self-employed work. It is squarely relevant to the over-50s and “silver nomad” audience weighing whether to keep a foot in freelancing after state pension age. The three-year exclusion is the catch to watch: if you have been autónomo in the run-up to retirement, this particular route is not open to you.
Context
The change fits a wider Spanish push towards partial and flexible retirement, giving people more ways to draw part of their pension while staying economically active. It sits alongside the jubilación activa and part-time retirement options already available. For a fuller picture of how self-employment works in Spain, see our guide to becoming autónomo, and for the older-worker angle, over-50s and remote work in Europe.
What to watch
The rules take effect on 28 August 2026. How your own pension and autónomo history interact is very fact-specific, so confirm your position with a gestor or the Seguridad Social before acting on it – this is a summary of the change, not personal advice.