A 68-YEAR-OLD man has been denied his state pension in Spain despite contributing to Social Security for more than 47 years.
Rafael was refused his retirement pension after it was discovered he owed €1,624.97 in unpaid contributions from his working life as an autonomo (freelancer).
He applied for his pension in 2020, having built up over four decades of recognised contributions. However, Social Security rejected his application because he was not up to date with payments at the time.
The man contested the decision with the National Social Security Institute (Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social), but his claim was rejected as the debt remained unpaid.
The case then went to a labour court in Barcelona, which ruled in favour of the Social Security Administration.
The court explained in its ruling that two key conditions to access a pension had not been met.
The outstanding debt had not been cleared, and the man had continued working until April 2021, which conflicted with his claim.
The man took the case further to the High Court of Justice of Catalunya (Tribunal Superior de JustÃcia de Catalunya), but judges upheld the earlier rulings.
The court said that while his long contribution record was clear, it was not enough on its own. Spanish law requires all payments to be fully up to date when applying for a pension.
Judges also pointed out that, aside from the €1,624.97 still owed, there were older unpaid debts of over €16,000, although these were not decisive in the final ruling.
Additionally, his registration as a freelancer until 2021 was incompatible with his claim that he had accrued the right to a pension in 2017, as he was still working.
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