Is there a 4-day week in Spain?
No. Spain has no 4-day week law, and the legal maximum is still 40 hours a week, averaged over the year. The Government tried to cut it to 37.5 hours with no pay cut: the Cabinet approved a bill in May 2025, but Congress rejected it on 10 September 2025, by 178 votes to 170, when amendments from PP, Vox and Junts passed. The Labour Ministry then left the bill out of its 2026 regulatory plan, saying it has not given up. The only working-time norm in its 2026 plan is a decree on digital time recording, which the Government agreed in July 2026 to approve in September. As of 29 October 2026 we found no report that it had been approved.
State-funded trials have been small. The Ministry of Industry's pilot for industrial SMEs required a cut of at least 10% in weekly hours for two years with no pay cut, and five firms received about €530,000 in 2024. The Valencian regional government pays grants to firms that move to four days or 32 hours a week without cutting pay.
Both schemes are voluntary and reach few employers, so a 4-day week in Spain depends on the individual employer.
Latest developments
Economy and Labour agree to take digital time-recording decree to September
Vice-presidents Carlos Cuerpo (Economy) and Yolanda Díaz (Labour) agreed the royal decree making working-time records digital will be approved in September, once the last details are closed. The Council of State had questioned using a royal decree, and the decree has been delayed.
elDiario.es: Economía y Trabajo pactan llevar el registro horario a septiembre (opens in new tab)37.5-hour law left out of the Government's 2026 regulatory plan
elDiario.es reports the Government's 2026 regulatory plan has no 37.5-hour week law, only the decree tightening time-recording. Labour sources say leaving it out does not mean it will not be done.
elDiario.es: El Gobierno renuncia a la reducción de jornada en su plan de 2026 (opens in new tab)Valencia opens applications for aid to firms moving to a 4-day or 32-hour week
A Generalitat Valenciana resolution of 16 October 2025 opened applications (23 October to 5 November) for grants capped at 200,000 euros per company over the plan's three-year duration.
Generalitat Valenciana: aid for the four-day or 32-hour week (TRJOLA) (opens in new tab)Congress rejects the bill to cut the legal week to 37.5 hours
Amendments to the whole bill from Junts, PP and Vox passed by 178 votes to 170, ending the bill's passage through Congress.
infoLibre: El Congreso tumba la reducción de la jornada laboral (10 Sep 2025) (opens in new tab)Cabinet approves a bill to cut the legal week from 40 to 37.5 hours
The Council of Ministers sent the bill to Congress: a 37.5-hour legal maximum without pay cuts, plus rules on time recording and the right to disconnect.
La Moncloa: Consejo de Ministros, 6 May 2025 (opens in new tab)
4-day-week trials in Spain
What each pilot reported. Figures are the organiser's own, from the linked report.
Ministry of Industry pilot: shorter hours in industrial SMEs
Run by Spanish Ministry of Industry (grants administered by Fundación EOI)
- 5 companies
In May 2023, 41 firms had applied to a 9.65 million euro call; five were awarded about 530,000 euros, announced 20 September 2024, for projects of at least two years with a minimum 10% cut in weekly hours and no pay cut. No results report has been published.
Europa Press via Infobae: Cinco empresas recibiran mas de medio millon para probar la jornada laboral reducida (20 Sep 2024) (opens in new tab)Valencian Community grants for a 4-day or 32-hour week
Run by Generalitat Valenciana (Dirección General de Trabajo)
Regional aid scheme for firms that cut hours to four days or 32 hours a week (by at least 20%) with no pay cut: up to 5,492.19 euros per worker in year one, falling in years two and three, and up to 200,000 euros per company. A call was issued by resolution of 16 October 2025; applications closed 5 November 2025. No outcome report found.
Generalitat Valenciana: aid for the four-day or 32-hour week (TRJOLA) (opens in new tab)Jobs in Spain
Senior Global Account Manager
AWIN · Hybrid · Madrid, Spain
4 Day Work Week
Who offers a 4-day week in Spain
Bandai Namco Mobile
Mobile games studio creating innovative IPs for BANDAI NAMCO, working a 4-day week in Barcelona with full creative freedom and startup culture.
Hellotickets
Hellotickets is the largest marketplace for tours and activities in Spanish, French, and Portuguese, operating across 15 countries with a 4-day work week.
one totem
Award-winning remote-first digital agency creating innovative services and products while prioritizing people and work-life balance since 2006.
Pioneer Education
An innovative online higher education school reimagining learning through design thinking, with wellbeing embedded in every aspect of work and study.
Quaderno
Tax-compliance SaaS for online businesses — verified **5-hour workday / 25-hour week** at full pay, fully remote across Spain, Germany, and the US.
Telefonica
We are one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world
How Spain compares
Spain, the labelled dot, against the other countries we cover.
Average weekly hours
Joint 15th shortest of 25 countries, 0.2 hours above the median of 37.3.
Netherlands 31.3 to South Africa 42.3
See all 25 countries
| Country | Hours |
|---|---|
| Netherlands | 31.3 |
| Denmark | 33.3 |
| Germany | 34.5 |
| Norway | 34.6 |
| Australia | 35.4 |
| Austria | 35.6 |
| Finland | 35.6 |
| Switzerland | 35.7 |
| Belgium | 36.0 |
| Ireland | 36.0 |
| United Kingdom | 36.3 |
| France | 36.9 |
| Sweden | 37.3 |
| Iceland | 37.4 |
| Japan | 37.5 |
| Spain | 37.5 |
| New Zealand | 37.6 |
| United States | 38.2 |
| Lithuania | 39.0 |
| South Korea | 39.4 |
| Brazil | 39.5 |
| Chile | 39.8 |
| Poland | 39.9 |
| Portugal | 40.0 |
| South Africa | 42.3 |
Usual weekly hours on the main job, all employed people, from the OECD (latest year, 2024 or 2025). It includes part-timers. No comparable figure for: Canada, Philippines, United Arab Emirates.
Statutory paid leave
Joint 8th longest of 26 countries, 2 days above the median of 20.
United Kingdom 28 to United States None
See all 26 countries
| Country | Days |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 28 |
| Austria | 25 |
| Denmark | 25 |
| Finland | 25 |
| France | 25 |
| Sweden | 25 |
| Iceland | 24 |
| Brazil | 22 |
| Portugal | 22 |
| Spain | 22 |
| Norway | 21 |
| Australia | 20 |
| Belgium | 20 |
| Germany | 20 |
| Ireland | 20 |
| Netherlands | 20 |
| New Zealand | 20 |
| Poland | 20 |
| Switzerland | 20 |
| Chile | 15 |
| South Africa | 15 |
| South Korea | 15 |
| Canada | 10 |
| Japan | 10 |
| Philippines | 5 |
| United States | None |
The legal minimum a year, in working days on a five-day week, before public holidays. Definitions differ: some countries set weeks or calendar days (converted here), the UK lets public holidays count and the United States has no national minimum. Each country page says what its number covers. No comparable figure for: Lithuania, United Arab Emirates.
Working in Spain
Working hours
The legal maximum is 40 hours a week of effective work, averaged over the year, and 9 hours a day unless a collective agreement sets another distribution. At least 12 hours must separate one working day from the next (Workers' Statute, art. 34). Full-time employees usually work 39.2 hours a week (Eurostat, 2025). The employer must keep a daily record of each worker's start and finish times (art. 34.9).
Paid leave and holidays
Annual paid leave may not be shorter than 30 calendar days (art. 38.1). Paid public holidays are capped at 14 a year, two of them local (art. 37.2).
Part-time and flexible work
Workers may request adaptations to the duration and distribution of their working time (art. 34.8). Anyone with legal care of a child under 12 can reduce their daily hours, with a proportional cut in pay (art. 37.6).
Remote work
In 2025, 12.8% of employees aged 15 to 64 worked from home usually (6.5%) or sometimes (6.3%), according to Eurostat.