Vacation Days In Spain: Expats Full Guide

The number of vacation days is an attractive perk whenever you are applying for jobs in Spain. However, how many off days are you entitled to?

This guide will let you know all about your rights as an employee and what factors will affect this paid leave. 

Does Spain Have Paid Vacation?

Yes, employees in Spain are entitled to paid vacation days. In fact, the country is among the top five in the world when it comes to paid time off. The very definition of this time off means that you will continue receiving your regular salary during this time. There is usually no special or additional pay for the vacation days, but some employers might choose to pay a special Christmas or holiday bonus to their employees once a year.

How Many Vacation Days Are You Entitled To In Spain?

You are entitled to a minimum of 22 working days (or 30 calendar days) of paid leave in a year, although the norm is 25 days in most companies. For the first year that you are employed in the company, leave days will be prorated while starting from the second year that you work for the same employer, you will be entitled to the annual leave that was agreed in the employment contract. You can divide this time up throughout the year or even take it all at once. But Spanish labor law requires that at least one of the periods of holiday leave should be at least two weeks long. An employer might also force you to take this leave, usually in the winter. Although employees must be given at least a two months’ notice of when their holiday leave is scheduled.

Apart from the vacation entitlement, Spanish employment regulations state that employees will also be given paid time off for local, regional and public holidays. Spain has 9 national public holidays, and almost two times as many at the local level. This means that your paid vacation days will also depend on where you live in Spain. Article 7 of the Worker’s Statute regulates public holidays. These should not exceed 14 a year under any circumstances. If a public holiday falls on a Sunday, then it will be transferred to the Monday right after. The public holidays (that are also paid) that an employee does not take cannot be recovered under any circumstances nor can they be replaced with financial compensation.

How Much Vacation Do You Have With A Mini Job Or Part-Time Work?

Even part time and temporary workers in Spain are entitled to the same conditions of paid time off as full time employees. The only difference is that during the time that you are on vacation, the salary that you will be paid will be proportional to the hours you worked in a working day. And if your contract expires before you have used all your vacation days, your company must pay compensation for the leftover days.

How Do You Apply For Holiday Leave In Spain?

With the widespread use of technology in companies across the globe, Spanish companies too are making use of software to track their employees’ activities. This includes the submission and confirmation of leave applications. You should decide the best mode of action based on what the culture is like at your workplace. For instance, in some cases you might feel that your immediate boss or the person you report to would appreciate it more if you discussed your plans with them in person beforehand. In other places, it might be alright to simply apply for leave via the human resources software.

As for planning when you might want to go on leave, there are certain companies that might require you to plan this out well in advance so the workflow can be managed accordingly and all of the team’s activities can be aligned. At the same time in other places you can also get away with spontaneous plans. Either way, there can never be too many people on vacation at the same time within a team for this might interfere with the routine tasks that need to be carried out. If your plans clash with someone else’s, a number of factors like the nature of work, seniority etc. will come into play to decide who gets to go on leave at that time. To avoid unexpected surprises like these, be sure to apply for your vacation days well in advance so you don’t have to alter your plans too much. You can also discuss this with your teammates ahead of time so that all of you are on the same page.

Once you submit an application for vacation days, you will need your manager to confirm them formally so you can take time off. Unless these are officially approved by your manager, you won’t be able to take the days off.

Can You Carry Over The Remaining Vacation Days To The Following Year?

The Worker’s Statute does not explicitly say that you must take all your holidays within the calendar year, but as a general year they should be taken in the year in which they have accrued. This is regardless of when you were first employed. So according to the leave policy in Spain, you must use up all of your remaining vacation days at the end of the year since these will typically not roll over. 

However, there are certain situations that are exempt from the norm mentioned above. Special circumstances like maternity leave fall outside this. Furthermore, there has also been some case law recently which states that employees who are not able to take their paid vacation days during a year due to sick leave can still use this entitlement after their sick leave ends. This can be done up to a maximum of 18 months from the end of the year when this entitlement was accrued.

However, all of this is subject to your company and what they allow. In some cases, employers might set a limit on the number of days that will be carried forward, or the time duration up till which you can take the vacation days e.g. say you will only be able to carry over your vacation days till March in the next year. So be sure to ask your employer about the rules that will apply to you.

What Applies To Vacation When Changing Jobs?

Whenever you change a job, vacation days will not be carried on to your next employer. That will be a different contract with its own set of conditions. In case you do not take all of your vacation days, you cannot receive payment in lieu of it since this is an inalienable right that is given to all workers. So it is compulsory for you to take them and you cannot negotiate them to receive additional pay. The only exception is cases in which your contract is terminated (regardless of whether you were dismissed or because you left the job voluntarily). If this happens and you have not taken all of your vacation days yet, then you will be paid for the vacation days you did not take. In many cases, the worker and employer might agree mutually to use these vacation days in the notice period, but this is a choice and cannot be enforced.

What If You Get Sick While On Vacation?

If you get sick while you are on your vacation, you can always submit the necessary doctor’s note and other documentation to your employer. What this will do is convert the vacation days into sick leave. So effectively your vacation days won’t be ‘wasted’ because you are sick.

If you want to avail the sick leave benefit, you will need to visit a doctor from the Servicio Publico de Salud (State Health Services) who will carry out a medical examination and then certify your illness. Your employer will be responsible for applying for your sick leave and bear the cost of the first 15 days of allowance. If you had an accident while at work, you will be eligible to receive 75% of your salary from the very first day of sickness. However, you will need to give the sick leave document to your employer as soon as you get it.

If you have a common illness then you will not be entitled to any payment with this diagnosis. However, from the fourth to the twentieth day your employer is bound to provide sickness benefits to you. This will be equal to 60% of your contribution base. After this point, any payments that your employer gives you will be covered by the Social Security scheme as long as you are registered. And it also increases to 75% of your contribution base. This payment is also known as an allowance for temporary incapacity. In some cases, you might also be eligible to receive 100% of the salary if there is a collective bargaining agreement pertaining to this.

Does Pregnancy Affect Your Vacation Entitlement In Spain?

The paid vacation days are different from any other kind of leave that you might need as an employee. This includes sick leave, parental leave etc. You are entitled to a total of 16 weeks of parental leave, which can be extended in case of multiple births, hospitalization of the baby etc. This is applicable for not only biological parents but also to those who adopt or foster a child. Moreover, employees also have a legal right to sickness benefits. So if you have to take some time off for health reasons during your pregnancy, or go on parental leave, this will not have any impact whatsoever on your paid vacation days. Those will continue to be counted separately, and a record of all other types of leave will be kept separate. You will also be entitled to take your vacation days once you return to work, even if the calendar year may have ended.

Bonus: How To Combine Public Holidays In Spain With Vacation Days To Double Your Time Off?

As discussed above, Spain has a maximum of fourteen public holidays throughout the year. And since most of these are fixed dates, you can plan your activities around them in advance. Since these holidays will fall during the week, with some strategic planning you might be able to extend these holidays. For instance, if a public holiday falls on a Tuesday, you can take Monday off (as part of your paid vacation) and hence get a four day weekend! This effectively means that you would only be using 1 vacation day but getting 4 days off. You will need to take a look at the calendar in advance to do a bit of smart planning like this to get more time off.

Conclusion

Taking paid time off from work is legally required in Spain. Some companies even forcibly send you away on vacation if you have not availed these days yourself. Vacation days are a great way to wind down and relax. After all, work life balance and spending time with your friends and family is an essential part of enjoying yourself. So go ahead and plan your vacation days; if you do it carefully, you might be able to increase them manifold.