Antonio Santana, a retiree residing in Seville, Spain, contests the penalty applied to his pension after 44 years of contributions to Spanish Social Security. The pensioner began receiving the pension before the normal access age and was subject to a permanent cut to the monthly amount. The association Asjubi40, which Santana joined, argues that workers with decades of contributions should not continue to be subject to reductions in their pension.
The association asked Elma Saiz, responsible for the Spanish Social Security portfolio, to eliminate the reduction coefficients for those who have accumulated 40 or more years of contributions. Santana stated that this change would be a great social contribution that would benefit approximately 900,000 pensioners in Spain, and could also support children and grandchildren who receive financial support from retired grandparents or parents.
On November 13, 2025, the Spanish Congress of Deputies approved a motion urging the Government to promote the necessary legislative changes, with 180 votes in favor and 170 abstentions. However, because it was a non-legislative initiative, the motion did not directly alter the calculation of pensions. In June of the same year, a proposal to remove the cuts had been rejected with votes against from the PSOE and the PP.
Spanish legislation provides more favorable coefficients for longer careers in articles 207 and 208 of the General Social Security Law, but reaching 40 years of contributions does not grant general exemption from penalties. In Portugal, the article briefly addresses that the normal retirement age is 66 years and nine months in 2026, and early retirement can begin from age 60 with 40 years of contributions, with a reduction of 0.5% per month of anticipation, and there are also exceptions for those with at least 48 years of contributions.
