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Spain’s Foreign Workforce Tops 3.55 Million After Regularization Drive

A mid‑April extraordinary regularization registered about 337,917 workers and is changing labor supply in key low‑skill sectors.

Overview

  • Official Social Security data show a record 3.55 million foreign-affiliated workers in August, an increase of 39,535 from July.
  • The government’s extraordinary regularization, launched in mid‑April, accounts for about 337,917 new Social Security registrations by August 31.
  • Foreign employment rose 482,490 over the past year, a 15.72% gain that far outpaced total employment growth of 3.1%.
  • Foreign workers make up 15.9% of all affiliates and are concentrated in hospitality (33.6%), agriculture (28.1%), construction (27%), and special household and agrarian schemes.
  • New registrants are mainly in the General Regime (79.8%), include 5% self‑employed, and shift the gender mix to more than 43% women while the top nationalities are Morocco, Colombia, Romania, Venezuela and Italy.