Filipino workers in Spain are set to gain easier access to social security services and stronger protection of their benefits as the Philippines and Spain move to strengthen implementation of their bilateral social security agreement.
Philippine Ambassador to Spain Philippe J. Lhuillier recently met with Social Security System (SSS) President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Joseph M. De Claro to discuss measures aimed at improving social security services for Filipinos living and working in Spain.
The meeting comes ahead of the reopening of the SSS Representative Office at the Philippine Embassy in Madrid, which is scheduled to be formally inaugurated on Sept. 11, 2026. Among the key issues discussed was progress toward finalizing and signing an Administrative Agreement that will implement the Convention on Social Security between the Philippines and Spain.
The agreement is expected to establish operational procedures covering the totalization of insurance periods, equal treatment of covered workers, portability or export of benefits, and the prevention of double social security contributions. Under the arrangement, eligible Filipino workers who have contributed to both Philippine and Spanish social security systems will be able to combine their insurance periods to meet eligibility requirements for certain benefits.
Qualified beneficiaries will also be able to receive earned benefits regardless of their country of residence, while temporarily deployed workers may avoid having to make duplicate social security contributions in both countries. The framework is also expected to improve claims processing and data exchanges between Philippine and Spanish institutions, reducing documentary requirements and administrative procedures for beneficiaries.
“Strengthening our social security partnership with Spain is an important step in ensuring that the rights and benefits of our kababayans are protected and accessible, wherever their work and lives may take them,” Lhuillier said. “We value our longstanding cooperation with Spain and look forward to working closely with our Spanish counterparts and the SSS to further strengthen the systems that support the Filipino community,” he added.
The reopening of the SSS Representative Office at the Philippine Embassy in Madrid is expected to provide Filipinos in Spain with direct assistance for their membership, benefits and other social security concerns.
The office will be located at the embassy’s Eric P. Valenzuela Consular Hall and will be headed by SSS Overseas Representative Mary Jessielyn C. Sia, who previously served as an SSS foreign representative in Milan. The Philippines and Spain have maintained a bilateral social security arrangement since 1988. An updated convention was signed in 2002 and entered into force in 2012.
The proposed Administrative Agreement is intended to translate the provisions of the decades-old bilateral framework into clearer procedures and more accessible services for Filipinos who have worked or built careers in both countries.