Spain’s June unemployment falls 1.2%, Galicia posts steepest drop as migrant regularization nudges some regions higher
Spain’s labor ministry reported a 1.2% monthly drop in registered unemployment in June 2026, with some regions posting record lows even as others saw marginal increases linked to the end of a migrant regularization window.
National picture
Spain added 128,533 Social Security affiliates in June, pushing total employment above 22.4 million for the first time. Registered unemployment fell 1.2% from May, according to data released Thursday. The decline was broad-based, with services shedding the most jobseekers as summer hiring picked up.
Aunque se puedan registrar ligeras fluctuaciones propias del mercado laboral regional, este continúa su línea de dinamismo.
Regional winners and losers
Galicia led all autonomous communities with a 3.28% monthly drop in unemployment, more than double the national average, followed by Castilla y León (‑2.98%) and Asturias (‑2.33%). Galicia’s 105,768 jobless was its lowest June reading since 2008. In absolute terms, only Andalusia shed more people from the dole.
Yet not every region improved. Murcia added 739 unemployed (up 1.02%) and La Rioja added 47 (up 0.39%). Officials in both regions attributed the uptick to the June 30 deadline for an extraordinary regularization process that allowed previously unregistered immigrants to sign on as jobseekers without implying job losses.
Un leve incremento del 0,39 % debido fundamentalmente al proceso extraordinario de regulación de personas migrantes en la región.
Affiliation milestones
Social Security affiliation hit fresh records in several communities. Murcia surpassed 704,928 contributors, its fifth straight monthly gain. Castilla y León broke through one million affiliates for the first time, while Galicia added 11,166 jobs in a single month. The national total reached 22.4 million, a record high.
Mínimo histórico de paro registrado, más de un millón de afiliados a la Seguridad Social y 63 meses consecutivos de subida de la afiliación.
- Galicia
- -3.28 %
- Castilla y León
- -2.98 %
- Asturias
- -2.33 %
- National Average
- -1.2 %
- La Rioja
- 0.39 %
- Murcia
- 1.02 %
Union reaction
UGT acknowledged the overall positive trend but warned that temporary hiring still dominates. In Asturias, 72% of new June contracts were temporary. The union demanded a 4% annual minimum wage increase in the next collective bargaining agreement, plus additional increments depending on sectoral pay gaps. It also called for an overhaul of dismissal procedures to make compensation "truly restorative."
