2026 also marks the start of the dual pension-calculation system. Photo credit: Wavebreakmedia/ Shutterstock
Spain’s pension system enters a decisive year in 2026. Lawmakers have set the ordinary legal retirement age at 66 years and ten months for the whole of 2026, the final incremental step in the transition begun in 2013 toward a standard retirement age of 67. At the same time the government will start rolling out a new, gradual system for calculating pensions that will be phased in over 12 years.
Rather than a single measure, 2026 bundles several linked changes: the precise legal age adjustment, the start of the so-called “dual” calculation regime, increases in certain contribution surcharges and adjustments to top and minimum pensions. Taken together, the reforms are designed to shore up long-term sustainability while softening the immediate impact for those with extended contribution records.
What exactly changes in 2026
Age, contribution thresholds and the dual computation system
From January 1 next year the ordinary retirement age for claiming a full contributory pension without meeting the higher-contribution requirement will be 66 years and 10 months. Workers who have completed 38 years and three months of contributions will still be able to retire at 65 without penalty.
Crucially, 2026 is also the year that initiates the dual regime for the pension calculation period. Over a 12-year phasing, the system will move towards allowing retirees to choose between two calculation bases at the end of the transition. The long-term option will consider up to 29 years of career history (with a mechanism to discard a specified number of worst months), while the existing reference period remains the last 25 years. In 2026 the computation base will begin with 304 months (about 25.33 years) with transitional discard rules; the full choice between options will be available progressively up to 2037.
Other technical and financial changes for 2026
Contributions, caps and minimum pensions
The 2026 package also raises the surcharge known as the Mecanismo de Equidad Intergeneracional (MEI) from 0.8% to 0.9%, apportioned 0.75% to employers and 0.15% to workers, with a roadmap towards 1.2% by 2029. A solidarity surcharge on higher salaries remains in place and will continue to rise gradually in the coming years.
The maximum contribution base will increase next year by a measure tied to inflation plus an adjustment, leaving it roughly 3.9% higher; that raises the upper monthly base to around €4,922. Minimum pensions and non-contributory pensions will be revalued above average inflation, with an additional adjustment designed to narrow the gap to the poverty threshold.
Rules affecting the initial maximum pension also change: the mechanism that updates top pensions will add a small annual cumulative increment intended to preserve purchasing power over the long term.
How this compares with the UK
Different structures, similar pressures
The United Kingdom is following a parallel path, though under a different model. The current UK State Pension age is 66 and is scheduled to rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028, with further proposals already in place for a future increase to 68 during the 2030s.
The key difference lies in structure. Spain keeps a contribution-based exception, allowing retirement at 65 for those with long insurance careers, while the UK operates a flat age-based threshold with no equivalent early full-pension route linked to contribution years. UK workers must wait until they reach the statutory age regardless of how long they have paid National Insurance. Both countries are responding to the same pressures: longer life expectancy, falling birth rates and a shrinking ratio of workers to pensioners. However, Spain’s system is more finely tuned to contribution history, whereas the UK model is more rigid but administratively simpler.
What this means for British expats in Spain
Cross-border contributions and planning
British nationals who work legally in Spain pay into the Spanish Social Security system and are therefore subject to Spanish retirement rules, including the 2026 age of 66 years and 10 months.
For those with working histories in both countries, coordination rules allow aggregation of contribution periods made in Spain and the UK when assessing eligibility. This can help some expats reach the Spanish contribution threshold that permits retirement at 65.
However, the increase means some British workers in Spain may need to delay retirement beyond what they had originally planned. At the same time, their UK State Pension age will be increasing along a similar timeline, which could help synchronise income streams but requires careful tax and timing planning.
The essentials at a glance
- In 2026 the ordinary retirement age is 66 years and 10 months; the statutory 67-year threshold follows the transition.
- 65 remains available without penalty for those with 38 years and three months of contributions.
- A dual computation system begins phased rollout in 2026, expanding the periods used to calculate pensions.
- The MEI contribution rises to 0.9%, and targeted surcharges on higher salaries will increase progressively.
- Minimum pensions, maximum bases and other technical levers are adjusted to protect purchasing power and system viability.
A technical year with wide ramifications
2026 is more than a modest age bump: it launches a technical overhaul affecting how pensions are computed, how contributions finance the system and how benefits are updated. For workers, employers and expatriates, the changes reinforce the need for careful retirement planning and timely review of contribution histories as Spain locks in the final stage of a reform that will shape retirement for decades.