The regulatory base of your Spanish pension, from 2026
From January 2026, Spanish Social Security works out the regulatory base (base reguladora) of a retirement pension in two ways and pays whichever is higher. The 2023 formula adds your contribution bases for the last 300 months and divides by 350. The new formula, in its 2026 version, looks at the last 304 months, keeps the 302 highest bases and divides by 352.33. Each year the new window grows by four months until 2037, when it reaches 348 months with the best 324 kept and a divisor of 378. On a flat base of €3,100 a month both formulas land within a few cents (€2,657.14 and €2,657.17). Differences appear with gaps, poor final years or a salary that grew over time. Compare both for your case below, with a gap before retirement if you expect one.
Your regulatory base under both formulas
Regulatory base
€2,131
| 2023 formula (300 ÷ 350) | €2,124 |
| New formula for that year | €2,131 |
| Applied | the new one |
Constant base in today’s euros; gaps filled at the minimum base.
The phase-in calendar for the pension regulatory base
Transitional provision 40 of the General Social Security Act, added by Royal Decree-law 2/2023, sets the pace. You will often read that the new rule uses "29 years minus the worst two". That is the end point, reached in 2037; in 2026 only two months are dropped.
| Retiring in | Months looked at | Bases kept | Divisor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 304 | 302 | 352.33 |
| 2027 | 308 | 304 | 354.67 |
| 2029 | 316 | 308 | 359.33 |
| 2031 | 324 | 312 | 364 |
| 2034 | 336 | 318 | 371 |
| 2036 | 344 | 322 | 375.67 |
| 2037 onwards | 348 | 324 | 378 |
Who gains from which formula
A couple of weak months at the end. If your last two months were paid at the minimum base (€1,424.40 in 2026), the new formula simply drops them: €2,657.17 against €2,647.57. By 2037 it will be able to drop two whole years.
A salary that kept rising. If your base grew 2.5% a year in real terms to €3,600, your best years are the latest ones. The 2023 formula, which looks back only 25 years, gives €2,304.77; the new one, reaching further back, gives €2,300.54. Social Security applies the 2023 one, which is why the comparison was written into law.
A late start in Spain. Someone who has only contributed in Spain for the last ten years, at €3,100, has the rest of the window filled as a gap: the first 48 empty months at the minimum base and the rest at 50%. The result is a regulatory base of €1,526.80 for the Spanish calculation. For people who worked in other EU countries the international rules change this, as the FAQ explains.
Inflation, the maximum base and gap filling
Bases from the last 24 months count at face value; older ones are uprated by the consumer price index, so a base from twenty years ago is worth today’s money. That is why our calculator works in 2026 euros. No base can exceed the maximum base of its year, €5,101.20 a month in 2026: higher earners contribute on that ceiling and their pension reflects it. For women, and for fathers who meet the conditions of the gender-gap supplement, gap months 49 to 60 are filled at 100% of the minimum base and months 61 to 84 at 80% (transitional provision 41), a rule that only applies to the new formula.
Once you have the base, the pension is a percentage of it depending on your contribution years, adjusted for early or late retirement and kept within the legal minimum and maximum. The state pension calculator does all of it; the limits are covered in the minimum and maximum pension guide.
Where to find your own bases
Your monthly contribution base appears on every payslip as the base for common contingencies (base de contingencias comunes), and it includes the monthly share of your extra payments. The full history is in the contribution-base report (informe de bases de cotización) on the Tu Seguridad Social portal, accessible with a digital certificate, Cl@ve or an electronic ID. That report, together with the employment record (informe de vida laboral), is what you need to check the gaps the law will fill and to see which formula is likely to favour you. Self-employed periods count with the bases you chose or, since 2023, with the base linked to your declared earnings.
Frequently asked questions
What is the base reguladora?
It is the average of your monthly social security contribution bases over a reference period, expressed per pension payment. Your pension is a percentage of it, set by your years of contributions, minus any early-retirement reduction or plus any deferral bonus, within the legal minimum and maximum.
Why divide by 350 rather than 300?
Because contributions are monthly but the pension is paid fourteen times a year. Three hundred months of bases spread over fourteen payments a year, instead of twelve, gives 300 × 14 ÷ 12 = 350. The same logic produces every divisor in the transition table.
Do I have to choose between the old and new formula?
No. For pensions starting between 2026 and 2040, Social Security calculates both automatically and applies the higher one, under transitional provision 4.7 of the General Social Security Act. From 2041 to 2043 the comparison continues with a slightly longer old-style period.
How are my years abroad treated in the base?
Months worked in another EU country or a country with a social security agreement are not filled with Spanish minimum bases for the Spanish calculation in the usual way: Spain computes a theoretical pension and pays its pro rata share. The exact treatment depends on the agreement, so request a pension forecast from Social Security if your career is split.
Are recent pay rises counted in full?
Not always. Increases in the last two years that exceed the average rise in your collective agreement are ignored, unless they come from seniority, a regulated promotion or a general pay item in the agreement. The rule stops last-minute rises being used to inflate pensions.
Does part-time work lower my regulatory base?
Part-time work lowers the bases themselves, because you contribute on a lower salary, and those lower bases enter the average. Since 2023, however, each day of part-time work counts as a full day for the number of years contributed, so the percentage is no longer penalised. Gaps between part-time contracts are filled like any other gap.
Related calculators and guides
Official sources
- General Social Security Act (LGSS), arts. 205 to 210 and transitional provisions 4, 7, 9, 34, 40 and 41
- Royal Decree-law 2/2023 (reform of the regulatory base)
- Royal Decree-law 3/2026 (2026 maximum pension, minimum amounts and uprating)
- Social Security: retirement pension, General Scheme
Figures checked against the consolidated texts of the Boletín Oficial del Estado on 3 October 2026. An indicative estimate that does not replace a decision of the administration or professional advice.