Retiring at 63 is possible in Spain, although you have to meet a series of requirements very specific to be able to do it. All this is due to the network of possibilities that do not depend so much on your age, but on your pension or the years you have been contributing.
The retirement age The minimum age in Spain has gone from 66 years and ten months in 2026 if you have contributed less than 38 years and 3 months, and to 65 years if you equal or exceed those years of contributions. Early retirements allow you to retire up to two years earlier, and that opens the door to being able to do so at 63, although only in certain circumstances.
Three key requirements. To qualify for early retirement, you have to meet several requirements. First of all, you must have contributed to Social Security for a minimum of 35 years. Secondly, you must be a maximum of 2 years younger than your corresponding retirement age.
And the third requirement is the key, because the pension you have left after applying the reducing coefficients must be higher than the amount of the minimum pension that would correspond to you when you turn 65 according to your family situation.
The key is the pension and the reducing coefficients. With all this, what should be clear to you is that retiring at age 63 depends on the pension you will have if you do so, and that you will not be able to retire early at that age if you will have a pension that is too low.
And when calculating the pension you will have, the reducing coefficients for early retirement come into play, whether voluntary or involuntary. These are percentages that are subtracted from your pension for bringing your retirement forward, and the more you want to advance it and the fewer years you have contributed, the greater the percentage that will be subtracted from your final pension. And these percentages are final, the pension you have left after applying them is the one you will receive for the rest of your life.
In 2026, the percentages of the reducing coefficients for voluntary early retirement are between 2.81% and 21%. The percentage that you have left will depend first on the number of months in advance with which you request your retirement with respect to the ordinary retirement age. And secondly, it will also depend on what you have quoted. This second part is divided into four different sections. But so that it’s not too much of a hassle, this is the official table where they tell you the sections and reductions:
In this way, that maximum 21% is taken away if you want to advance your retirement to the maximum, 24 full months, and if you have contributed for less than 38 years and 6 months. On the other hand, if you only want one month in advance and you have been contributing for more than 44 years and 6 months, your pension will only be reduced by 2.81%. Then, all that remains is for you to calculate your specific case in the retirement simulator of Social Security.
There are other types of retirement. Everything we have told you is referring to voluntary retirements, but there are also other cases of involuntary early retirement. These are those that are due to external causes, things that you do not ask for, such as collective or objective dismissals, judicial resolutions of the contract and similar. This modality can lead to advancing the ordinary retirement age up to 4 years if there is a minimum of 33 years of contributions, and if you register as a job seeker at least 6 months before requesting it. But of course, this depends on each specific case.
As for the self-employed, they can retire early voluntarily with the same conditions as employees, just as we have explained to you, with the same minimums and reductions.
And then there are the officials, for whom it depends on the regime that corresponds to them. General Regime officials have the same conditions and requirements as employees, which we have already explained to you. And those in the Passive Classes Regime can voluntarily retire early at age 60 if they have been serving the State for 30 years.
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