Big changes to parental leave in Spain are expected in 2025!
These changes will result in improvements (yay!) to Paternity, Lactation, and Parental Leave.
And although none of these changes are yet officially approved in the Budget (some were suggested in 2023 and some just last year), experts anticipate significant adjustments this year to meet new demands, improve conditions for families, and align with European regulations. Awesome!

Paternity Leave - what is the current situation?
Since 2021, Spain offers an equal paternity and maternity leave for both parents comprising of 16 weeks fully paid, with 6 weeks immediately post-birth and 10 weeks taken flexibly before the child's first birthday. The leave is non-transferable, and single parents receive no additional time.
Proposed Changes to Paternity Leave
In 2023, Spain's coalition government proposed extending parental leave from 16 to 20 weeks, with the possibility of sharing the remaining time (after the mandatory 6-week period) between both parents. Additionally, there were calls to increase leave for single-parents, who currently receive no additional weeks.
In November 2024, Spain’s Constitutional Court recommended that single-parent families be entitled to the full combined leave of up to 32 weeks.
Everyone was hopeful all of this would come into effect in 2024, but here we still are (oh, Spain). However, with new developments, there’s a good chance these changes could finally become reality in 2025!
Comparing Paternity Leave Internationally

In Europe, countries like Sweden and Norway lead the example with paid and unpaid parental leave lasting well over a year.
However, in comparison to countries outside the EU, like the US, which average 6 weeks' paid leave, Spain is certainly better!
Lactation Leave

Lactation leave allows both parents, mother and father, to take paid time off for the feeding of their baby (whether by breast or bottle) during the first year of life. This leave is applied once maternity and paternity leave end, and parents are entitled to one hour or two half-hour periods per day each, or even to accumulate hours into full days off. Depending on the Union agreement, employees in both the private and public sectors can accumulate up to 28 days of leave. This leave is fully paid until your child reaches 9 months old, and with recent reforms can now be extended until 12 months of age - although, starting from the ninth month, your employer might apply a proportional salary reduction.
What About Parental Leave?
Since 2024, parents have been legally able to take up to eight weeks of unpaid leave to care for their children. The company has to approve your leave request if submitted at least 10 days in advance. And, if fired during your leave, the dismissal will be considered void - so, no funny business there!
These eight weeks are non-transferable, so each parent has their own leave, and can be taken continuously or intermittently, full or part-time. However, you must take the leave in full weeks, no picking and choosing individual days.
Now, looking ahead to 2025, there’s hope that this leave will finally be paid, and parents will receive 100% of their base salary until their child turns eight years old.
Hope for 2025!
So, between increases and improvements to different areas of leave involving the care of babies and young children - stay tuned! We are hopeful that 2025 could bring some very exciting changes for parents in Spain!
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