If you leave the UK permanently, you can continue to make voluntary Class 2 NI contributions, which go towards your pension when you retire.
If you leave Spain, for a period, can you make a similar type of voluntary contributions to the Spanish authorities?
Any info. anyone has on the topic appreciated.

Yes can be done, I went from Spain to Germany on 1 year contract and paid my SS contributions voluntarily while I was away. Think you have to be registered with SS and have accumulated several years of contributions in order to do it . Definitely worth doing if you want continuity for future pension.
Talk to your local SS office

Presumably you cant have 2 pensions so if you receive a UK pension at retirement you cant draw anything from Spain?

Of course you can, quite separate structures and contributions both based on years contributed above minimu requirement

So if I'm not struck down by lightening (or worse) by the time I retire, that will leave me with....

Full UK pension and 2/3 of the qualifying years for a Spanish pension.

The Spanish pension is quite a bit more generous than the UK pension.

Looks like I´´ll be left with the options of either using my UK contributions to go for a full Spanish pension or going for a full UK pension plus 2/3 of the Spanish pension...

When you come to retirement you should contact the pension organisation of the country in which you last worked and they should co ordinate the pensions from other countries where you worked I believe

So I have been making voluntary UK contributions and I have worked 10 years ( on/off) Spain. If I leave Spain and return to UK I can make voluntary Spanish contributions? I think 15 years of contributions in Spain gets you a minimum pension but if I continue paying I would get zilch as you have to be actively working for 3 years prior to being pensionable. Is that right?. Seems to good to be true to say I could pick up 2 pensions simply by having made voluntary contributions

That is what I was thinking I could do but you cant get a Spanish pension unless you are working in Spain 3 years before reaching the pensionable age and therefore making voluntary contribcontributions not count

I love when we get down to the nitty gritty, as that is when progress is made…

I will have the required number of years for a full UK pension, so no debate there.

With regard to having a Spanish pension, in addition (a second pension), that is something I thought would not be possible, but as someone just suggested it on here, it is worth exploring whether it is really possible or not….

So, with regard to the Spanish pension:

1) You need to have been making contributions to the Spanish system for a minimum of 15 years to quality. They take the average of your final 15 years’ salary to calculate your pension entitlement, but it is capped at the top end and also there is minimum you receive, if you have a minimal salary.

2) You need to spend your final years of working in Spain, before you retire (not sure if that is the last 2 or 3). However, probably really the requirement here is that you are tax resident in Spain and you make the required social security contributions in Spain. That could be through unemployment benefit for example. Consider the scenario where someone is made redundant coming up to pensionable age. The Spanish system has to cater for them also.

3) Not sure if there is a time limit of how long you can absent yourself from the Spanish system in these final years. Probably you can go and work elsewhere in the EU and this is taken into account by the Spanish authorities, as long as you satisfy the 15-year minimum payments and you spend your final 2 or 3 years in the Spanish social security system.

All quite simple really…

Comments welcome…

The above it what I thought was the case. In otherwords even if you can make voluntary contributions unless you are a tax resident and finally working at time of retirement you wont get anything. Also I didn't think you could pull 2 state pensions. I thought you had to choose or mix together but not 2 separate ones. If that was the case you could move to Spain at say 50 and work for 15 years, pick up a Spanish pension plus your UK one!!!

The above it what I thought was the case. In otherwords even if you can make voluntary contributions unless you are a tax resident and finally working at time of retirement you wont get anything. Also I didn't think you could pull 2 state pensions. I thought you had to choose or mix together but not 2 separate ones. If that was the case you could move to Spain at say 50 and work for 15 years, pick up a Spanish pension plus your UK one!!!

UK clear, normal contributions while there, voluntary ones while working abroad. Received pension at 65.
Worked in Spain for several years in the 1990s, left Spain , worked elsewhere . Returned to Spain in early 2000s , worked a further 14 years , including making voluntary contributions while on an assignment in Germany ( i.e. passed 15 years requirement ) got made redundant, got 2 years unemployment benefit , also included in pension calculation as they automatically pay minimum SS contributions ,and then qualified by age and years contributions for pension at 65.
All calculations and paperwork done through Spanish Social Security including organising UK pension into Spanish bank account.
Minimum age qualification has changed but other elements I believe remain the same.

Just found this post by you from some time back and wondered if I could ask you about it as it pertains to something I am trying to find out about claiming UK and Spanish pensions, and it seems like you have actual experience of this.

I will have a full UK pension (17 years in UK and the rest as voluntary contributions) plus 24 years in Spain. I retire in May 2067 here in Spain, although UK pension kicks in July 2066, 10 months before. My question is: will I get the full UK pension and the 24 years in Spain, as per the two systems? Some have suggested that the overlapping years caused by voluntary contributions will reduce my Spanish pension. Can that be right? When you claimed your pensions through Spanish social security, did you get all your years of contributions in UK and whatever corresponded to Spain and elsewhere? I’m not even sure if I have to claim them together or I can take the UK one first, carrying on working for 10 months, and then claim the Spanish.

The DWP told me there is no problem with asking for my UK pension directly first but I wonder if Spain feels the same way! Obviously I will ask INSS at some point, but can you tell me what your experience was of the process?

Your dates are strange. Maybe typing error.
Two things
1.checkwith UK pension forecast
2. Check with Spanish system your "história laboral"
Gives you a clear idea as to what you should receive.
Next step appointment at Inss they have a comprehensive questionnaire which covers your working history if you complete it correctly.
Their system then sweeps up everything and if all goes well you will receive info from UK and Spain as to what you will receive and when.

Loafing about- have you actual experience of doing the above? I assume you worked in Spain in the last 3 years before retiring and then your UK pension was combined with your Spanish years to get you up to the 37 years for a Spanish pension?