Foreign worker affiliation in Spain breaks record at 3.36 million, now 15% of all jobs after a 9.4% year-on-year surge

Spanish social security data released on 12 June 2026 showed that the number of foreign affiliates climbed to an average of nearly 3.36 million in May, a month-on-month increase of 111,301 (3.43%). Compared with May 2025, the figure rose by 288,717, representing a 9.4% annual expansion, nearly four times the 2.5% growth rate for total affiliation.

A labour force transformation

Foreign workers have added more than 900,000 affiliates since May 2022, the month a major labour reform took effect. The Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration stated that 43.4% of all jobs created since that reform have gone to people born outside Spain. The share of foreign affiliates in the national system reached 15% in May, up by one percentage point from a year earlier.

Breakdown by origin shows that roughly 30% of the 3.36 million affiliates come from EU countries. Morocco leads non-EU origins with close to 421,000 contributors, followed by Romania (355,087), Colombia (291,371), Venezuela (231,635), Italy (220,474), China (130,777), Peru (114,264) and Ukraine (83,049). The number of Venezuelan affiliates has multiplied tenfold in the past decade.

Gender and contract patterns

Women exceeded 1.4 million foreign affiliates for the first time, reaching 43.1% of the foreign workforce, while men accounted for 1.9 million. The share of foreign workers on permanent contracts stood at 88.5%, compared with an average of 58.9% during the 2017-2021 period before the labour reform.

Regularisation backdrop

The government approved a mass regularisation process for foreigners in April. The Secretary of State for Social Security, Borja Suárez, cautioned against drawing quick conclusions, saying that the bureaucratic procedures are slow and the full impact will not be visible until the process is completed.

The most prudent thing is to wait until the deadline to assess the regularisation, because it is a complex and large-scale process.

Month-on-month growth rates, however, have picked up markedly since April. The foreign affiliation fell by 1.5% in January, then grew by 1.3% in February and 2.4% in March before accelerating to above 3% in both April and May.

Sector concentration and self-employment

Hospitality remains the dominant sector, employing more than 30% of foreign workers. Agriculture accounts for 28.8%, construction 25.1%, transport 17.9% and administrative activities 18.1%. In special regimes, foreigners make up 44.2% of domestic workers and 42.4% of agricultural workers.

Foreigners are a big part of the engine of our country's growth; in hospitality, construction and agriculture they are essential, but we also see their presence growing in every sector.

Self-employed foreign affiliates totalled 519,137, up 7.25% year-on-year. The ministry highlighted a rising concentration in highly qualified activities such as telecommunications and computer programming, where foreigners already represent 32.4% of those registered.

Regional snapshots

All regions registered gains. The Balearic Islands added 20,081 foreign affiliates from April (14% month-on-month), driven by the start of the tourism season. Castilla y León gained 4,756 (4.5%), and Andalusia reached 437,870 after a monthly increase of 3,188. Murcia added 4,048 (3.37%), and Cantabria registered 500 new foreign affiliates, a rise of 2.27%, the fifth lowest regional increase.

Ministry officials said the data confirm a steady intensification of foreign employment growth, although they will not attempt to quantify the regularisation effect until the administrative cycle is complete.