This past Monday, October 5, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced the dissolution of the Cortes and called general elections for next November 29. A decision that has caused the decline of 305 legislative proposals that were in the process of parliamentary processing, such as the elimination of pension reduction coefficients for requesting early retirement.
However, this is not the only effect that the change of government could have. Although the arrival of a new Executive does not imply the automatic or immediate modification of the current and current regulations, this one does will have the opportunity to approve new legislative measures relating to different issues. Among them, one of the most recent regulations, which came into force on August 28: changes in the conditions of flexible retirement.
The entry into force of Royal Decree 416/2026, of May 27, aimed to solve one of the problems of the Spanish economy: the difficulty of sustaining the pension system in the future. That is why the Council of Ministers decided to approve a reform that would make flexible retirement more attractive for pensioners. Allowing them to continue working while receiving part of their pension more incentives, if they meet a series of requirements.
The current conditions for flexible retirement
First of all, and as explained by lawyer Raúl Gómez, it is necessary that the worker be retired and receiving the corresponding pension. An issue that differentiates it from partial retirement. Subsequently, it will be necessary for you to decide to resume your work activity, either through an employed or self-employed contract, after having spent six months as a retiree.
The return to the working day must be, at least 33% for those who decide to work as an employee and 25% for those who choose to resume their activity as self-employed. Depending on the percentage, the incentive that the retiree will receive will be greater or less, which will increase the pension they receive by seeing that they receive the salary for the work done.
Those who work as an employee in a working day of 33% or more, without reaching 55%, they will receive an additional 15%; while those who work a shift of between 55% and 80% may receive 25% more pension. On the other hand, those who work as self-employed workers may receive up to an additional 25% as long as they have not been registered as self-employed workers during the three years prior to their retirement.
The new Government must present a new reform or bill
However, one of the main criticisms of the current Royal Decree is that the contribution accumulated during flexible retirement no longer allows the pension to be improved once it is decided to stop carrying out economic activity, as the lawyer warned in the program ‘It’s not hours’. Something that worsens the conditions of retirees who have decided to opt for this measure, since It only brings them benefits as long as they continue working.
This issue, as well as the conditions reflected in the current regulations, will continue to be in force even if there is a change of government. However, this will have the capacity to present a reform to modify the access requirements to flexible retirement incentives. If such changes require a law, it must be approved before the Council of Ministers and sent to the Congress of Deputies for debate and parliamentary processing.
Once this process begins, its content may be modified and parliamentary groups may present amendments to the text until it is studied by the corresponding presentation and commission. Once the final text is obtained, this will be put to a vote again in the Congress of Deputies and will go to the Senate. If this does not make modifications, the text will be subject to sanction and promulgation and will be published in the BOE. Its entry into force will take place on the date established by the standard itself.