Spain's Christmas extra pay 2026: when and how much

Article 31 of the Workers' Statute:

• The worker has the right to "two extraordinary payments a year, one of them on the occasion of the Christmas holidays".
• The other is paid in the month set by the collective agreement or by an agreement between the company and the workers' representatives. Summer is the usual choice.
• The amount is set by collective agreement.
• And a collective agreement can provide that the extra payments are "spread over the twelve monthly payments".

The law only says "on the occasion of the Christmas holidays". There is no legal date: your collective agreement sets the exact day, and many companies pay it with the December payslip or a few days earlier.

If you do not see it, first look at your payslip for any month. If it shows a line for pro rata of extra pay (prorrata de pagas extra), you already receive it spread over twelve monthly payments, and nothing separate arrives in December.

It depends on the collective agreement. The most common amount is one month of base salary plus whatever supplements the agreement includes.

With the 2026 minimum wage (Salario Mínimo Interprofesional, SMI), which Royal Decree 126/2026 sets at €40.70 a day or €1,221 a month:

The yearly figures and the spread-out monthly amount are our own calculation: 1,221 × 14, and then that total divided by 12. The money is the same over the year. Only the timing changes.

The extra is paid in proportion to the time worked in its accrual period (periodo de devengo). The agreement sets the period: it can be yearly or half-yearly.

An example, using our own calculation: you start work on 1 September 2026, with a base salary of €1,500 a month and a Christmas extra that accrues from 1 July to 31 December.

• Days in the period: 184.
• Days worked: 122, from 1 September to 31 December.
• Extra pay: 1,500 × 122 ÷ 184 = €994.57 gross.

If your agreement counts by months instead of days, it would be 4 months out of 6: €1,000 gross. And if the accrual is yearly, you would get the share for four months out of twelve.

For the same reason, if you leave the company before December, the part of the extra you have already earned goes into your finiquito (final settlement).

The extra pay is salary and is taxed under IRPF (Spain's personal income tax) like the rest of your pay. Its Social Security contribution, however, is not paid in one go: the contribution rules add to each month the proportional part of the extra payments. That is why the extra often arrives with fewer deductions than a normal payslip.

Contributory pensions are paid in 14 instalments, with the extra ones in June and November, according to Social Security. The Christmas one arrives with the November monthly payment.

Two points:

• Someone whose pension was recognised recently gets the proportional part.
• Pensions for work accidents or occupational illness are paid in 12 monthly instalments, because the extras are already spread out.

The Basic Statute of Public Employees (Estatuto Básico del Empleado Público) sets two extra payments a year, and the budget law currently in force places them in June and December.

It arrives in the month when people spend the most, and January comes right after. A simple way to divide it up before it disappears:

1. 1. First, expensive debts. What you owe on a card costs more than any savings earn.
2. 2. Then, a cushion. If you do not have an emergency fund, the extra is a chance to start one.
3. 3. The rest, with a name. Gifts, dinners and the January squeeze: set a limit for each. In Neto you can create a savings goal and see how much you have so far, without connecting your bank.

To know how much you really have, use the net worth calculator.

The official pages below are in Spanish.

• Estatuto de los Trabajadores (Workers' Statute), article 31 (BOE, the official state gazette, consolidated text).
• Royal Decree 126/2026, which sets the minimum wage for 2026.
• Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration: Social Security pays the extra payment in November (press release, November 2025).