Lorry drivers' early retirement stalls in Spain

Early retirement for Spain’s lorry and bus drivers is stuck: on 16 October, the CCOO union calls for an assessment panel to meet immediately and warns of protests if it does not. The panel has yet to consider applications filed by CCOO, the UGT union and leading employers’ groups in October 2025.

The applications seek reduction coefficients — rules that would allow professional drivers to retire early. CCOO says the Directorate-General for Social Security Organisation has stopped processing them and has not called the panel together.

The first reports on deaths and illness among road freight workers and bus drivers were delayed because it was difficult to establish the statistical basis, the union says. The National Institute for Safety and Health at Work and the Labour Inspectorate have since completed the reports required for both groups. According to CCOO, the panel should have met from 27 July and produced a report on road freight within a month.

CCOO fears the cases may not be settled before Spain’s general election on 29 November, when it says those heading the directorate and the panel would leave their posts. The union says there is no reason to halt the applications. If the government keeps them frozen until after the vote, it warns, it will face opposition from the whole sector.

Topics: Jobs & labour

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com