Working, self-employed or studying in Spain as an EU citizen

Key rules

• Retained worker status: If you lose a job involuntarily and register as unemployed, you keep worker status for at least six months, or longer after more than a year of work.
• Genuine work: Employment and self-employment must be real, and you prove it with contracts and Social Security and tax registration.
• Students: You need enrolment, health cover with no co-payments or waiting periods, and proof of enough money.

As an EU citizen, you keep your right to live in Spain if you work, run your own business, study, or look for work with a real chance of finding it. Each category has its own proof. If you lose your job, you can keep your worker status for a time under set conditions.

If you are an employee

Your work must be genuine. You will need your valid passport or ID, your registration application, and proof of the job. That proof is a work contract, or a declaration or certificate from your employer. You also need proof that you are registered with Social Security (your alta).

If you are self-employed

You need your passport or ID and proof that you are really working on your own account. That means:

• registration in the RETA, the Social Security scheme for self-employed people
• your tax registration (alta in the censo de empresarios, on form 036 or 037)
• any licence or professional registration your activity needs

Invoices, client contracts and quarterly tax returns are extra proof.

If you are a student

You need three things:

• proof that you are enrolled at an accredited public or private centre in Spain
• health cover, public or private
• proof that you have enough money so you do not become a burden on the social assistance system: €600 a month in 2025, shown with a bank statement or a grant letter

Private insurance must cover you in Spain with no co-payments or waiting periods.

If you are looking for work

You can stay beyond three months while you are actively looking for work and have a genuine chance of being hired. Register as a job-seeker with the public employment service (SEPE or your regional service) and show that you have a real chance of finding work. The 6 months count from the day you arrive. After them you can stay longer as a job-seeker only if you show a real chance of a job, such as job offers or interviews; otherwise you show enough money (€600 a month in 2025) and health cover, as a person without work (Retired or not working, funds and health cover for EU citizens).

If you stop working: keeping your worker status

You can keep your status as a worker or self-employed person in four situations.

1. Illness or accident. You keep it while you are temporarily unable to work.
2. Unemployed after more than a year of work. You keep it as long as you stay registered as unemployed with the public employment service (SEPE or your regional service). There is no end date.
3. Unemployed after a short contract or in your first year. This covers a fixed-term contract of under one year, or losing your job within your first 12 months. You must be involuntarily unemployed and registered. You keep your status for at least six months.
4. Starting vocational training. The training must relate to your previous job. If you are involuntarily unemployed, it does not need to be related.

Losing your job must not be your choice. Register as unemployed quickly, because registration is what protects you. When the status ends, register as a job-seeker (above) or on your own means.

If you are not an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen

The worker, student and job-seeker rules here cover EU, EEA and Swiss citizens only. If you are a non-EU citizen without a family link to an EU citizen, you need a Spanish permit or visa instead.

UK citizens, dual nationals and Spanish citizens: What EU citizens must do to live in Spain legally.

If you work remotely for a foreign employer or have founded a company

• Remote worker for a foreign employer: register as self-sufficient on your own means (what EU citizens must prove). If you invoice clients as a freelancer, register as self-employed instead.
• Company founder: If you are a director paid by the company, use the worker or self-employed route. You need your RETA alta and the company deed.

EU residence categories compared

Which residence category fits your situation?

Timeline and deadlines

• Look for work as a job-seeker while you have a genuine chance of being hired: for 6 months from the day you arrive; after that, show a real chance of a job or money and health cover

• Keep worker status after a fixed-term contract of under one year, or after involuntary unemployment in your first 12 months, if you register as unemployed: for at least six months

• Keep worker status after involuntary unemployment following more than one year of work, if you stay registered with the public employment service: as long as you stay registered, with no fixed end date, though authorities may review it