The SEPE is the Spanish Public Employment Service, which operates an extensive network of offices to support workers, unemployed people, entrepreneurs, young people and businesspeople across Spain, including Ceuta and Melilla. The SEPE can be found at Avenida de Andalucía 36 in Jaén (23006) and C/O’Donnell 3 in Linares (23700).

If you have paid into the Spanish National Social Security System for at least one year, you are eligible for unemployment benefits.

To receive unemployment benefits, you must have worked for at least one year (360 days), demonstrate that you are legally unemployed in Spain and register as a jobseeker.

The minimum and maximum amount of unemployment benefit available to you will depend on several factors, such as whether or not you have children (see table for 2020 figures).

Foreign jobseekers who have paid into the Social Security System may apply for unemployment benefit by showing proof of identity (the documents required will vary depending on whether or not you are an EU citizen). Emigrants returning to Spain will also have to demonstrate that they have not received unemployment benefits from another state during the same period. For more information, please visit the ‘I have worked for more than one year’ section on the SEPE website.