The Cortes adopt the Social Security agreement with the United States.

The annual compilation of international agreements of the Cortes Generales, published on December 31, 2025, places first the Social Security Convention between the Kingdom of Spain and the United States of America, signed in Madrid on April 8, 2024. The text of the agreement was published in the Official Gazette of the Cortes Generales (BOCG), Series A, No. 76, of September 13, 2024, and already has the authorization of both chambers. The convention coordinates the contributions and pensions of Spanish workers in the United States and of Americans in Spain, and directly affects thousands of citizens and companies with transatlantic activity.

The instrument is a bilateral Social Security treaty that establishes the coordination framework between the Spanish and American systems. Its processing was recorded in the official gazettes of the Cortes from the publication of the text of the agreement on September 13, 2024, to the authorizations granted by the Congress of Deputies and the Senate, whereby the convention has completed the parliamentary phase prior to its ratification.

A framework for transatlantic mobility

The convention, signed in Madrid on April 8, 2024, articulates the coordination relationship in Social Security matters between the two countries. Its activation will make it possible to coordinate contributions made in either system and protect the pensions of those who work or have worked on both sides of the Atlantic, so that mobility between Spain and the United States does not result in loss of rights or contribution periods.

The parliamentary process

The convention’s authorization process is documented in the official gazettes of the chambers on these dates:

• Signature of the convention: Madrid, April 8, 2024.
• Publication of the text of the agreement: BOCG Cortes Generales, Series A, No. 76, of September 13, 2024.
• Authorization of the Congress of Deputies: November 14, 2024, published in BOCG Congress of Deputies, Series C, No. 42-3, of January 30, 2025.
• Authorization of the Senate: December 18, 2024, published in BOCG Senate, Section III, No. 201_1937, of December 20, 2024.

An annual compilation of international activity

The publication of 31 December 2025 is the annual compilation of international agreements processed by the Cortes Generales, and the agreement with the United States heads the list. Alongside it are other instruments from 2024 and 2025, such as Resolution 79-1 of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund concerning the Sixteenth General Review of Quotas, the scientific cooperation agreement on the NASA tracking station, the Global Air Transport Agreement between ASEAN and the European Union, and the agreements with Portugal for the international bridges over the Guadiana and the Sever.

Unlike other agreements in the same compilation, the Social Security agreement does not yet include the reference to its publication in the Official State Gazette. Until the instrument of ratification appears in the BOE, the agreement will not have entered into force; for posted workers, pensioners and companies with transatlantic activity, its activation will provide a predictable and shared framework between two social security systems, a significant step for thousands of citizens who split their careers between Spain and the United States.

Source: Laws of the Cortes Generales (Congress of Deputies), annual compilation “International agreements 2025”, of 31 December 2025 (official reference: BOCG Cortes Generales, Series A, No. 76, of 13 September 2024).