How to apply for unemployment benefit (paro) online in Spain

The application screen by screen (sede.sepe.gob.es)

The online route is Sede Electrónica → Personas → Prestación contributiva → Solicitar. Identify with certificado digital, Cl@ve or DNIe. The form then asks, in order: your identity and address; the bank account (IBAN in your own name); dependent children (they raise the min/max bounds of the benefit); the termination — pre-filled from the certificado de empresa if SEPE already received it; and tax withholding options. Before submitting you see a resumen — read the causa de extinción line carefully: it must match reality (fin de contrato, despido, ERE…). Submit and download the resguardo PDF; the expediente number on it is your tracking key.

No digital ID? The pre-solicitud (simplified form without certificate) still books your date; SEPE calls back to complete. Or book cita previa at your oficina de empleo.

15 working days: how the deadline actually counts (LGSS art. 268)

The clock starts the day after the situación legal de desempleo — normally the day after the contract ends — and runs for 15 working days: Saturdays, Sundays and national/regional holidays do not count. Vacation paid out in the finiquito (vacaciones no disfrutadas) pushes the start: those days count as employment, and the 15-day window opens after they run out.

Filing late does not kill the right — it shortens it: every day of delay is a day of benefit lost at the start. Filing before you have the certificado de empresa is allowed and often smart: the application date freezes your rights; the file simply waits for the certificate.

Certificado de empresa: the document that approves or sinks the file

The employer must send the certificado de empresa to SEPE electronically (Certific@2) within 10 days of the termination — most send it in the first 48 hours. It states your contribution bases and the causa de extinción. That cause is what SEPE reads, not your story: a «baja voluntaria» line means denial even with years of contributions. If the stated cause is wrong, demand a corrected certificate from the employer immediately and say so in the application's observations; if the employer refuses, SEPE can act on your evidence (contract, despido letter, burofax) — attach it.

After you file: states, first payment, and the duties that keep it alive

Track the file in Sede SEPE → Consulta de prestaciones: en trámite → resuelta favorablemente (or requerimiento for missing pieces — answer within its own window). SEPE must resolve within 15 days of the complete file. Payment lands between the 10th and 15th of the month following each accrued month, into the IBAN you gave.

Two standing duties: keep the demanda de empleo (jobseeker registration) renewed on the dates your card states — a lapsed demanda suspends payment — and report any work, even a few days: undeclared overlap is the fastest way from beneficiary to debtor.

FAQ

Can I apply from my phone?
Yes — the sede works on mobile with Cl@ve PIN. The certificate route is easier from a computer.

I worked several short contracts. Which date starts the 15 days?
The end of the last contract. All contributions from the last 6 years pool together for the 360-day minimum.

SEPE asked for more documents mid-file.
That requerimiento has its own deadline printed on it — miss it and the file is archived. Answer through the sede, keep the receipt.

The resolution reduced my days.
You have 30 working days to file reclamación previa. Check the contribution count first — vida laboral errors are the usual culprit.