The Spanish Senate has reinserted a controversial clause into legislation enabling mutualists, professionals who contributed to private mutual societies, to transfer their rights to the Social Security system. The restriction excludes people already receiving a public or mutuality pension, except widows and widowers receiving a widowhood pension. It has reignited debate among affected groups and could affect the future pensions of thousands of professionals in fields including law and architecture.
The measure, known as the “pasarela al RETA,” creates a voluntary route for eligible professionals to transfer accumulated economic rights into Spain’s public system and convert them into contribution periods in the Régimen Especial de Trabajadores Autónomos (RETA), the special regime for self-employed workers. The legislation became Ley 2/2026, definitively approved by the Congress of Deputies on 23 July 2026. The transfer is irreversible once completed, making the eligibility rules and conversion formula consequential for those considering the move.
Many mutualists face low private pensions, sometimes reported at €300-€400 per month. The Unión de Profesionales y Trabajadores Autónomos (UPTA) has said that close to 100,000 professionals affiliated with alternative mutual societies are seeking a route into RETA. A separate group of around 50,000 active mutualists with at least 15 years of Social Security contributions is also affected by the rules. These populations are distinct: the 15-year threshold concerns active mutualists, while the law excludes people already receiving a public or mutuality pension, except widowhood pension recipients.
The parliamentary process involved competing amendments. Congress initially approved an amendment from the Partido Popular (PP) removing the exclusion of current pensioners and people with at least 15 years of Social Security contributions. During the Senate committee stage, the PP reversed course, restoring the exclusion for existing pensioners, with the widowhood-pension exception, while maintaining access for active mutualists with 15 or more contribution years. The Senate’s text then returned to Congress for final consideration. The resulting law was definitively approved on 23 July.
The Senate’s restoration of the pensioner exclusion drew criticism from professional bodies including ICAM, the Madrid Bar Association, which called it a setback. Eligibility is basic to the reform’s practical reach: an eligible mutualist may transfer accrued rights into the public system, but cannot reverse the transfer once it is complete.
Some technical provisions also shaped the reform. The Senate committee restored the “1x1” rule for mutualists over 52, under which each full month contributed to a mutual society counts as a full month in RETA for pension calculations. The PP also extended the rule to contributions made before 1995, when membership in mutual societies was mandatory. The legislation gave the government three months to issue implementing regulations, with the deadline falling on 23 October 2026.
Those regulations will determine how accumulated mutuality rights are transferred and converted into recognized RETA contribution periods. The law sets a conversion coefficient ranging from 0.67 to 0.87, which affects how transferred rights translate into contribution records. For pension calculations, the law specifies the minimum contribution base for self-employed workers, replacing the previous link to inflation adjustments. These technical rules and the eligibility criteria will determine how the statutory route works in practice.
Mutualists demonstrated in Madrid on 17 October 2026 to press for the implementing rules. The planned march was to begin outside the Consejo General de Procuradores and end near the Dirección General de la Seguridad Social. UPTA criticized what it called government “inaction” and called for clarification of the responsibilities of professional associations and mutual societies in the process. José Luis Almodóvar, an advocate for developing the RETA mechanism, summed up the stakes in an interview: “We are talking about the retirement of an entire group.”
Those who remain in their mutual societies face scheduled increases in reference contributions, rising from 86% in 2026 to 100% in 2028, with the rate set at 93% in 2027. The Consejo General de la Abogacía Española has argued that there is no legal obstacle to approving the implementing regulation before the 29 November election date. That position underscores the dispute over whether the electoral calendar could delay the rules.
Spain’s pension system has undergone other changes aimed at addressing gaps and inequalities. One measure granted parents an extra 270 days of pension contributions per child, as detailed in this report on new Social Security credits for parents. These reforms reflect efforts to adapt the system to the realities of professional and family life.
The mutualists’ reform brings private and public pension rights into a single policy debate, but its effects depend on who qualifies and how each transfer is calculated. The exclusions reinstated by the Senate remain a defining feature of the enacted structure, while the implementing rules will determine how eligible professionals can use the voluntary, irreversible route into RETA.
