Hi guys. Ive been back in the UK 3 1/2 years now. I used to post on here a lot whilst living in Spain and should make the effort to post more even though im back over here. I came back in the recession and was really worried about getting work. I was 37 then and not really much in the way of trade. anyway Ive had 3 full time jobs and now work for the Royal Mail as a postie plus I also do some mobile DJ work so im doing really well considering. I came back with my entire savings of 20k and ive managed to get on the mortgage ladder too for the first time. Im well settled here.

Anyway my question is, I was working in the same hotel for over 10 years running entertainment and obviously on a contract. Now im working for the Royal Mail I have been automatically enrolled into Zurich pension scheme with them.Having never having a pension scheme before I was wondering if I was ever automatically enrolled in some sort of spanish government pension because I was on a contact and if so could I transfer it? Im over in Spain (benidorm) 2 to 3 times a year for short breaks. My friend who lives there made this aware to me recently that I could have some sort of pension from Spain but ive no idea,its news to me and if so how would I go about it?

I assume you were legal, did you do a tax declaration every year ? if so yes you will have 10 years of contributions to a Spanish state pension, which once you are 67 ! will be taken into account when calculating your UK state pension.

I'm no expert so hopefully someone else will come along and answer your question in more detail

I was legal yeah. I worked for a proper hotel company on a full legal contract from 1998 to 2009 but I didnt fill out any tax declarations every year I dont think or not that I recall anyway. I paid tax etc which came off my wage.

Have a look at any of your old payslips they should state whether you were paying SS contributions as well as Tax. It's the SS contributions that decide what you get for a pension.

Will do. I still have some.

I cant see an option on my old payslip for pension. What should it say?

I should have asked you this before but do you have a NIE ?
Next time you are in Spain just go along to the nearest Sec Soc office tell them you NIE and they will be able to answer your question I think.

If you were on a PAYE contract then you almost certainly did pay into the Spanish social security system. You are not obliged to fill in tax returns unless you earn over a certain amount (around €24k I think - I can't remember the exact amount). You need to pay 15 years of contributions in Spain to get a Spanish pension, but don't worry if you worked less than 15 years, those payments will be taken into account if you retire in the UK. There's an EU mechanism that makes sure you don't lose out on state pension contributions by switching country within the EU - when you apply for a UK state pension you tell them about the Spanish contributions and they take them into account. Of course this all depends on the UK still being in the UK by the time you retire!

I suspect the UK will be in the UK for quite sometime yet Whether it or Spain will still be in the EU in the future is debatable

You can ask for a pension forecast. http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum.../dg_180219.pdf

You will have to provide them with info regarding your previous employment in Spain.