The Spanish labour market continues its impressive upward trend. For the first time in the country’s history, more than 22.47 million people are in social security-registered employment. At the same time, the number of registered unemployed has fallen to its lowest level since the beginning of 2008. However, the latest figures released by the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy reveal another striking trend: a large proportion of the newly created jobs have been filled by foreign workers.
Spain Expat Press Editorial Team
by Marlon Gallego Bosbach
Record employment despite economic uncertainty
While many European countries continue to struggle with sluggish economic growth, Spain’s labour market has proved remarkably resilient. Around 128,500 new jobs were created in June alone, further extending a positive trend that has been gathering momentum over the past several years.
Unemployment also continued to decline. With just under 2.3 million people registered as unemployed, Spain has reached its lowest jobless total in almost two decades, returning to levels last seen before the global financial crisis.
In particular, the start of the summer season traditionally brings a surge in hiring. Hotels, restaurants, tour operators, retail businesses, and a wide range of service companies all increase staffing levels during these months in order to cope with the expected influx of visitors.
Foreign workers drive the employment boom
What stands out in particular is the composition of employment growth. According to the published data, more than two thirds of all newly created jobs were filled by workers of foreign nationality.
This trend is by no means new; in fact, it has been strengthening for several years. Experts point out that foreign workers now make a significant contribution to Spain’s economic development.
Since the end of 2019, the number of employed foreign workers has increased by more than half, while employment among Spanish nationals has grown at a significantly slower pace over the same period. Economists see this as a key factor behind the country’s sustained growth.
Demographic change reshapes the labour market
Behind this development lie several structural changes. Spain is one of the European countries with a particularly low birth rate and an increasingly ageing population. At the same time, more and more employees are retiring, creating labour shortages across a wide range of sectors.
The tourism and hospitality sectors, construction, agriculture, as well as healthcare and elderly care are particularly affected. Companies in transport and logistics, along with many service industries, have also been struggling for years to fill vacant positions. As a result, foreign workers are increasingly taking on roles for which there are often not enough candidates available on the domestic labour market.
Latin America remains the main region of origin
A significant share of newly hired workers comes from Latin America. The shared language makes it easier for many people from Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, or Ecuador to enter the Spanish labour market.
In addition, workers from Morocco, Romania, and other European and African countries also make up an important part of the workforce.
Spain is now considered one of Europe’s most important immigration countries. It is estimated that around one in five residents was born abroad.
Regularisation programme amplifies the effect
The labour market is receiving additional momentum from the Spanish government’s latest regularisation programme.
More than one million people have applied in recent months to regularise their residency status. Over 600,000 applicants have already received temporary work permits, allowing them to be legally employed while their applications are being processed.
The government aims to bring workers already living in the country out of the informal economy and into regular employment. At the same time, it seeks to help companies fill vacancies more easily and to secure social security contributions.
Government sees immigration as an economic key factor
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his government regard controlled immigration as an important pillar of Spain’s economic future.
According to the government, many sectors of the economy would struggle to meet their staffing needs without international workers. At the same time, a higher number of employees contributing to social security is expected to help stabilise the pension and welfare systems in the long term.
Critical voices remain
Not everyone views this development positively. Opposition parties and critics warn that strong immigration could place additional pressure on the housing market, schools, and the healthcare system.
The large-scale regularisation of migrants is also a subject of debate. While supporters see it as a necessary step towards integrating people already living in the country, critics fear it could encourage further migration.
Spain is emerging as a job engine in Southern Europe
Regardless of the political debate, the latest figures show that Spain’s labour market is performing significantly better than just a few years ago. After the severe consequences of the financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, the country is now reaching record employment levels.
However, the current record level also highlights a fundamental shift: employment growth is increasingly being driven by international workers. According to many labour market experts, this record would hardly have been possible without this development.
Whether this trend will continue in the long term will largely depend on how successfully Spain manages to balance the challenges of demographic change, securing skilled labour, and integrating new workers into the labour market.
