The application start date for Spain’s cheap holiday scheme for pensioners is this week, with new discounts and allowances for pets. Here’s how foreigners can get a cheap break in Spain, as well as where they can travel to, who is eligible and how to apply.
What is the Imserso programme?
Imserso is a social scheme offering holidays to the elderly. It aims to offer subsidised trips to pensioners in order to help them improve their quality of life and health, as well as to reduce their dependence on others.
The scheme also incentivises employment and economic activity, alleviating the problem of seasonal work in Spain’s tourism sector during low season.
For the 2025/2026 season, there around 890,000 Imserso spots available.
Which foreigners can access Spain’s Imserso scheme?
Foreigners residing in Spain who meet any of the following requirements may participate in the Imserso tourism programme:
- A person who is retired and part of the Spanish public pension system.
- A widow’s or widower’s pensioner who is 55 or older.
- A recipient of unemployment benefits or subsidies, aged 60 or older.
- A holder or beneficiary of Spain’s Social Security System, aged 65 or older.
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How and when can I apply?
The best way to apply is online via the Imserso website which you can access here. You will need your Cl@ve, digital certificate or NIE in order to apply this way.
For the 2025/2026 campaign, applications open from 9:00am on Monday October 6th for trips to Asturias, Catalonia, Castilla-La Mancha, Valencia, Ceuta, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, La Rioja, Navarre and the Basque Country, and will be extended to the rest of the country on Wednesday 8th October.
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You can also apply in person at the offices of the Imserso Tourism Programme. Find out from your local town hall where they are in your region, or you can also check under the Atención Presencial category here. Under the section Documentos you will be able to download the application form.
You will need to provide documentation and proof of your identity, residency status in Spain and details of your Spanish pension and social security payments, so make sure to have them to hand when you’re filling out the form.
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How does it work?
Acceptance to the Imserso programme depends on various factors. Those who are older, have fewer financial means, are part of a large family, have a degree of disability or who have never participated in the scheme before, will be given priority.
Applicants who haven’t been on a holiday in a while and those who are willing to travel in low season, will also be given priority.
People who apply may be accompanied by their spouse or, where appropriate, by a common-law partner or person with whom a stable and living union is established, without the need for them to meet the requirements of age or pension.
You may also be accompanied by children with disabilities as long as they travel with you and stay in the same room or if not, you will be required to pay a supplement for additional rooms.
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How much will it cost me?
The Imserso programme is designed to subsidise holidays for pensioners and allow you to travel very cheaply. Depending on length of stay, the dates you go and the type of accommodation you stay in, you might pay something in the range of €225 to €400.
Some short-term trips to provincial capitals can even cost as little as €132 for four nights.
You can find a full price breakdown here on the Imerso site.
This year the prices for the most popular trips to Andalusia, Murcia, Catalonia and Valencia in low season start from €309 and rise to €409 in high season for a 10 day trip including transport. Ten days without transport in low season could cost you as little as €270.
For the Balearic Islands, with transport and a stay of 10 days, the price would be around €359. For 8 days, it would be €285.
Imerso trips to the Canary Islands, with transport and stays of 10 days, are a little pricer: around €464.72 on average for 10 days with transport.
The cheaper Imserso holidays are usually four days long (three nights at a hotel) to locations in Spain’s inland provinces, whereas the the more expensive packages are for ten days (nine nights at a hotel) in coastal areas.
This will include your accommodation on either a full or half board basis, as well as transport (depending on the package), group insurance policy and a socio-cultural programme.
It should be noted that prices may be reduced for people who have economic resources equal to or less than the amount of non-contributory retirement and disability pensions in social security.
A new feature of the 25/26 campaign is the creation of 7,447 places at only €50 for pensioners with lower incomes, that is, those whose resources are equal to or less than the amount of non-contributory retirement or disability pensions, according to Imserso.
What type of holidays can I go on and where to?
There are several different types of holidays you can choose from as part of the programme. These include:
- Coastal areas in mainland Spain: Stays of between eight to 10 days in either Catalonia, Andalusia, Murcia, Galicia, Asturias, the Basque Country, Cantabria or Valencia regions.
- Spain’s islands: Stays of eight to 10 days in the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands.
- Spain’s interior: Stays of four, five or six days in the interior of Spain (Extremadura, Aragon, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, La Rioja, Navarre), which are culture, nature or city-themed holidays.
- Holidays in Spain’s autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla.
There’s also a hydrotherapy Imserso programme, allowing the elderly access to spas around the country. The same requisites apply as for the regular programme.
Reporting in the Spanish press suggests that the 2025/26 scheme will have around 50 percent of its places (440,000) reserved for coastal destinations.
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