Overview
- Official October figures published Nov. 4 show Social Security affiliates reached a record 22.62 million after a monthly gain of 186,612 contributors, the largest October rise on record.
- About 63,899 of October’s new affiliates were foreigners legalized through the extraordinary regularization and roughly 490,586 people have entered cotización lists since the process began to appear in registers in July.
- Registered unemployment rose by 43,128 in October to about 2.422 million, the biggest October monthly increase since 2020 and driven mainly by the services sector and people listed as without previous employment.
- Regional outcomes diverged sharply with Catalunya and Madrid concentrating many regularization-related hires—Catalunya added 29,540 affiliates and reports about 98,608 regularized hires—while most autonomous communities still saw unemployment rise and some provinces like Córdoba recorded falls.
- Self-employment topped 3.5 million for the first time with roughly 18,000 new autónomos in October and unions warn that formalization and seasonal rehiring raise questions about contract quality, wages, and the public services needed to absorb newly registered workers.