The mutualists affected by the alternative social security systems have demonstrated this Saturday in Madrid to demand that the Government approve the regulation of the bridge to the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (RETA) before the deadline expires. The organizers fear that the advance of the general elections to November 29 will paralyze the development of the regulation and prolong the uncertainty about their future pensions.
The mobilization, called by the Platform Bridge to RETA, the #J2 Movement and #J2 Procura, started from the surroundings of the General Council of Procurators, on Serrano Anguita street, and has traversed the center of the capital to the headquarters of the General Directorate of Social Security Management, on Jorge Juan street. Under the slogan "Listen to the affected, minister. Regulation without cuts", the participants have demanded that the department led by Elma Saiz complete the regulation and allow the affected professionals to intervene in its drafting.
The protest takes place a few days before October 23, a date that the platforms identify as the deadline to approve the regulatory development. Law 2/2026, of July 29, established a maximum period of three months from its approval to specify the conditions of the bridge, although the electoral call has introduced new doubts about the processing schedule.
The affected denounce that dialogue has cooled
María José Almodóvar, spokesperson for the Platform Bridge to RETA, has denounced in an interview published this Saturday by El Diario de Madrid that the contacts maintained with political representatives have lost continuity since the electoral call on October 6.
As she explained, the organizations had participated in working meetings with representatives of the Government, the PSOE, and Sumar to convey their proposals regarding the regulation. However, she asserts that this dialogue has weakened and that the affected individuals still do not know a definitive project on which they can make observations.
Almodóvar has described the situation as "the abandonment in which the Government is leaving us" and has warned of the consequences that a new delay may have for those who need to know the conditions of their future retirement.
The spokesperson has also pointed out that they have received indirect information according to which the regulation may not be approved during this legislature, although she has specified that she cannot confirm that this is the official position of the Executive.
A law approved, but pending development
The Law 2/2026, of July 29, recognizes certain professionals who contributed to alternative mutualities the possibility of transferring the accumulated economic rights to the public Social Security system. The objective is to convert those funds into periods contributed to the RETA, in accordance with the conditions established in the regulation.
The transfer is voluntary, but the transfer is irreversible once made. Therefore, the regulatory development is essential for those affected to know how many years of contributions will be recognized and to assess the consequences of opting for the mechanism.
The law establishes that the calculation must take as a reference the minimum contribution base that would have corresponded to the professional had they been included in the RETA, applying a improvement coefficient ranging from 0.67 to 0.87 to take into account the excluded contingencies.
However, the terms of the transfer of the accumulated economic rights and their conversion into contributed periods still need to be specified. The conveners demand that the regulation respect the content approved by the Cortes and not incorporate additional restrictions that, in their opinion, may harm the beneficiaries.
The Bar Association asks that the elections do not paralyze the regulation
The concern about the electoral calendar has also reached professional institutions. The Madrid Bar Association requested on October 5 from Minister Elma Saiz that the call for elections does not interrupt the processing of the regulation and demanded compliance with the established deadline.
For its part, the General Council of the Spanish Bar Association has argued that there is no legal impediment arising from the electoral call that requires the suspension of the approval of the regulatory development. The dissolution of the Cortes does not in itself imply the paralysis of all normative procedures of the Executive.
The problem, therefore, does not reside solely in the legal possibility of approving the regulation, but also in the necessary time to complete its processing and in the Government's willingness to do so before the elections.
The claims are not identical among all mutualists either. The association Mutualistas por el Futuro has demanded that the regulatory development take into account both those who wish to join the RETA and the professionals who prefer to remain in their mutualities. The organization argues that the economic rights of both groups must be protected and the stability of social welfare entities guaranteed.
With the demonstration this Saturday, those affected are once again conveying to the Government a claim they consider urgent. The walkway is already recognized by law, but its effective application still depends on a pending regulation. The doubts about the calculation of contributions and future pensions are now joined by the uncertainty about whether the Executive will complete the procedure before the elections on November 29.