If your employer in Spain has stopped paying your salary on time, or keeps delaying payment month after month, you may not have to just quit and walk away with nothing. Spanish law gives you another option: asking a court to end your contract and treat it as if the company had dismissed you.
This is a specific legal action. You file a claim with the Social Court, asking it to terminate your employment contract "by the will of the worker" because the company has failed to pay your agreed salary, or has repeatedly delayed paying it. This process is set out in article 80 and related articles of Law 36/2011, of October 10, which governs Spain's labor courts.
Spanish courts have consistently ruled that non-payment of wages is, in itself, a serious enough reason to justify ending the contract this way. You do not need to prove the employer acted in bad faith or intended to harm you. And a company cannot avoid this simply by pointing to its own financial difficulties. If the money you are owed has not been paid, or keeps arriving late, that pattern alone is generally treated as a serious breach.
What this means for you
If you are dealing with persistent late payments or missing salary, this legal route can result in the same protections you would get from an unfair dismissal, but on your own initiative. It is worth discussing your specific situation and payment history with a lawyer, since the strength of your case will depend on how serious and how long-running the non-payment has been.
