A Few Hours in Morocco Cost Job Seeker His €480 Monthly Benefit in Spain
He had applied for several jobs, submitted CVs and kept proof of his efforts. But a return trip to Morocco changed the course of his case. In Spain, a court has upheld the refusal of monthly unemployment assistance worth 480 euros.
It all came down to two passport stamps. Living in Melilla, a job seeker crossed the Moroccan border and returned to Spain a few hours later, on the same day. The trip cost him access to a benefit for the long-term unemployed, the Spanish daily AS reports.
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The man had been registered as a job seeker since 13 May 2022. On 7 August 2023, he applied for the Renta Activa de Inserción (RAI), a Spanish benefit that required, among other things, 12 consecutive months of unemployment registration. The SEPE rejected his application that same day. He tried again three days later, with no more success.
The administration cited two reasons: insufficiently documented job-search efforts and an interruption in his registration caused by his trip to Morocco.
Yet his efforts were documented. In April 2023, he had applied for three jobs on InfoJobs and registered with the Eulen and Adecco agencies. In July, he had submitted six more applications and contacted AgroJobs and Randstad. He had also handed out CVs directly to companies.
A few hours abroad were enough to derail his case
The Melilla labor court heard the case in March 2025. The judge accepted that these job-search efforts could be considered sufficient. But the passport stamps showed that the man had left Spain, even briefly.
The regulations governing the RAI allowed exceptions for certain trips of up to 15 days, including for a marriage, a birth or the serious illness of a relative. The applicant did not meet any of these conditions.
His lawyer pointed out that he had returned the same day. He also cited information published about the possibility of traveling abroad while receiving benefits. The judges distinguished between the rules applying to people already receiving benefits and those governing eligibility for this allowance.
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The High Court of Justice of Andalusia ultimately upheld the SEPE’s refusal. It relied on a September 2024 ruling by Spain’s Supreme Court: under the rules for this former benefit, leaving the country interrupted the required 12 months of continuous registration, regardless of the length of the trip.
Since 1 November 2024, Spain has closed the RAI to new applicants. The case remains subject to the regulations in force when the man applied in 2023. For him, several months of job applications and searches were not enough to make up for a few hours spent in Morocco.
