Lorraine Williamson
A growing number of Spain’s autónomos are discovering a hard truth: self-employment can mean long days, high fixed costs, and a monthly income that barely covers the basics. A new warning from the self-employed association UPTA suggests this is no fringe problem. It is structural — and it is trapping hundreds of thousands of people in “in-work poverty”.
UPTA says around 795,413 self-employed workers are surviving on €670 a month or less — roughly a quarter of those registered in the RETA system. For context, that level of income can disappear fast once rent or a mortgage, electricity, petrol, insurance, and food are paid.
UPTA also points to a wider band of fragility: more than one million autónomos declaring net monthly earnings below €900. That is not “extra income” territory. That is people trying to run a life on sums that often sit uncomfortably close to the minimum needed to get through a month.
The risk nobody budgets for
For employees, a bad month might mean cutting back. For many autónomos, it can mean falling behind. Self-employed workers often carry the risk alone: no guaranteed hours, no predictable wage rises, and little cushion for illness, a broken van, a late-paying client, or a sudden family cost.
This is where self-employment stops looking like freedom and starts looking like exposure. And when you are already operating close to the edge, one surprise can tip the whole thing into debt.
“Tarifa plana” helps you start — but it can’t make you profitable
Spain’s Social Security system does offer a reduced start for many new autónomos. Through Importass (Social Security’s official platform), the tarifa plana is described as an €80 monthly fee for the first 12 months, with conditions and possible extensions in some cases.
It makes starting out easier. But UPTA’s critique is blunt: incentives can bring people into self-employment before they have a stable customer base, realistic pricing, or enough margin to absorb quiet periods. In other words, you can be “successfully registered” and still financially failing.
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A system built on estimates — and corrected later
Since the reform tied to Real Decreto-ley 13/2022, autónomos choose contribution bases linked to expected net earnings, with later adjustments once real figures are known. Social Security provides a public simulator so workers can estimate what they should pay.
In theory, that is fairer than a one-size-fits-all approach. In practice, low earnings still collide with unavoidable costs — and the “working poor” reality can remain even when someone is doing everything right.
Why people stay stuck
Closing a business is not as simple as shutting down a laptop. It can feel like personal failure. It can also mean losing identity, routine, and the hope that “next month will be better”. For some, there is no clear route back into salaried work, especially after years outside the traditional job market.
UPTA is calling for more than warnings. It wants practical guidance, including support for retraining and help transitioning into paid employment when self-employment is no longer viable.
What this means for Spain’s economy
Spain often celebrates entrepreneurship as a solution to unemployment, to rural decline, and to the lack of stable jobs in certain sectors. But if a sizeable share of autónomos are earning poverty-level incomes, the model starts to look less like empowerment and more like a pressure valve.
The political challenge is awkward: encouraging self-employment is easy to message. Fixing the conditions that make it precarious — weak demand, late payments, micro-business fragility, uneven skills support, and thin safety nets — is much harder.
A reality check for 2026
Self-employment should not mean choosing between paying Social Security and buying groceries. Yet that is the corner many are being pushed into.
UPTA’s figures are a warning light: if Spain wants a healthier small-business economy, the goal cannot be “more autónomos”. It has to be more sustainable autónomos — with realistic pathways to decent earnings, or dignified exits when the numbers simply do not add up.
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