This is how maternity and paternity leave in Spain remains after its extension: duration, when it has been in effect, and who is eligible.

In July, the Council of Ministers approved the provisions on maternity and paternity leave , and leave for the birth and care of newborns and children. The measure was ratified by Congress on September 9, the final step the new law must go through.

The measure, agreed upon by the parties that make up the governing coalition, means that citizens will be able to enjoy "three more weeks of paid leave to care for their children," as well as an "important change" for single-parent families, as both the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, and the Second Vice President and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, emphasized.

These are three new labor improvements in maternity and paternity leave. To apply them, a distinction must be made between leave for a newborn, leave to care for a child until they are eight years old, and leave for family types, in this case, single-parent families.

Maternity leave, as well as fully paid maternity and paternity leave, will be extended from 16 to 17 weeks for both parents until the child reaches 12 months of age. The first six weeks will be mandatory immediately after birth, and the remaining eleven weeks may be taken until the child reaches one year of age.

In addition, two additional weeks of parental leave for childcare have now been added to these, up to eight weeks, which will be fully paid . These can be taken flexibly and during the periods or days chosen by families. They will be applied "retroactively" for children born on or after August 2, 2024.

For all these reasons, parents will enjoy 19 weeks of maternity and childcare leave.

Likewise, the eight weeks of unpaid parental care for a child under eight years of age that parents were able to enjoy until now are maintained .

In the case of single-parent families —the majority of which are made up of women—the leave will be extended to 32 weeks , four of which can be taken until the child turns eight.

Yolanda Díaz, at the Council of Ministers press conference, noted that these new measures "are added to the entire range of permits under the Workers' Statute" and also specified that breastfeeding leave "remains the same."

As Yolanda Diaz explained at the Council of Ministers press conference, these measures will apply to "public employees, salaried workers, and the self-employed" in the event of a birth or adoption . These paid leaves are for each child and each parent , as Yolanda Diaz explained.

The extension of parental leave will not be retroactive. Regarding childcare leave, it will be applied retroactively from August 2, 2024.

The new paternity leave provisions went into effect on July 30th, when the law was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE). The measure remains in effect after being ratified by Congress.

These changes to maternity and childcare leave are in line with the commitment to Directive 2019/1158 of the European Parliament on the reconciliation of work and family life for parents and carers, which was due to be implemented in August of last year.

However, Spain has so far failed to comply with the fine, which amounts to a daily fine of €9,760. Had the measures not been implemented, the fine would have increased to more than €40,000 with the arrival of August.