One of the main impacts of the Great Recession has been the increase in the rate of unemployment in Spain. Unemployment has a negative impact on the wages of workers, which, in those pension systems where pensions are computed according to wages, eventually affect pension benefits. In this contribution we estimate the impact of these detrimental effects on Spain’s pensioners’ welfare. According to our estimates the average pensioner is expected to lose the equivalent to 18 monthly payments of the initial pension entitlement. Additionally, the poverty risk faced by pensioners is estimated to increase between 10.6 and 24.6 per cent due to the effect of the Great Recession.