Spain's legal, architecture and court-agent bodies urge the Government to approve the gateway to the self-employed regime without further delay

Spain's General Council of the Legal Profession (Consejo General de la Abogacía Española), the Superior Council of Architects' Associations, the General Council of Court Agents (procuradores) and the General Council of Technical Architecture have told the minister of Social Security, Elma Saiz, that the implementing regulation of the gateway to the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (RETA) must move forward urgently, La Razón reported on 17 October.

In a joint statement, the four institutions demand that the regulation be approved without further delay at the next Council of Ministers, this Tuesday 20 October, to complete the move of liberal professionals into that contribution system and "guarantee a regulation that provides legal certainty to all those affected".

What the gateway is and who it affects

Self-employed lawyers in Spain can pay their social security contributions through their mutual society (the Mutualidad de la Abogacía) as an alternative to the RETA. The gateway is the mechanism that would allow an orderly transfer of mutualists into the general self-employed system. According to La Razón, the measure affects some 150,000 professionals from the legal profession, court agents and architecture.

The calling of a general election has left the ratification of the gateway up in the air, so these professionals' regulatory situation with Social Security could be delayed indefinitely, the councils explain. Hence the urgency of the request: approve the implementing regulation before the electoral calendar paralyses everything.

What the mutualists are asking for

The association Mutualistas por el Futuro (MxF) demands that the gateway "take into account the different situations and options of mutualists and protect those who decide to remain in a mutual society". In other words, the request is not for a forced transfer, but for a clear framework both for those who switch systems and for those who stay.

MxF asks, specifically, for "clear and coherent regulatory development of the law, making freedom of choice effective through an orderly and legally secure transfer", respecting the economic rights of those who leave and those who stay. The association demands that the rule delimit the individual and collective capital of the mutual societies: "Any individual capital left over after the conversion and the collective capital require differentiated treatment," it says.

On the viability of approving the gateway royal decree with parliament dissolved and a general election called for 29 November, the four councils recall that there is "room to move forward" with the regulation. The demand, driven for more than three years by associations, platforms and the mutualists' union, responds to an urgent need for the more than 150,000 professionals affected, who need the regulation to make decisions about their future.

What a self-employed lawyer should review

1. Their current situation. Whether they contribute through the mutual society or the RETA, and on what base.
2. The 2026 regularisation. This year's contributions are regularised against actual income; it is worth reviewing the brackets before the framework changes, as explained in our guide to self-employed lawyers' contributions in 2026 and their regularisation.
3. Registration and formal obligations. Anyone considering starting to practise can review the steps in our guide to tax registration for lawyers with form 036.
4. Official news. If the gateway is approved, it will be published in the BOE; we will cover it in our Self-employed lawyers section.

At the time of publication there is no confirmation that the Council of Ministers has approved the regulation: the only confirmed fact is the formal request by the four councils. We will update this information when an official decision is published.