Overview

• Spain has 317,000 fewer children aged 3–5 than a decade ago, a 22.7% decline that continued last year with roughly 28,000 fewer pupils.
• For the first time, enrolment is falling across all compulsory stages, with secondary (ESO) down 0.6% in 2024–25, a loss of 13,353 students and an overall decline of 14,726 across non‑university education.
• The public network has absorbed more of the contraction in early childhood education, losing over 225,000 pupils (−23.8%) versus a reduction of more than 91,000 (−20.4%) in private and concertada schools.
• The slowdown is uneven across regions, with the steepest drops in Ceuta (−40.9%), Asturias (−31.4%) and Cantabria (−30.6%), compared with more moderate declines in the Balearic Islands (−12.4%) and Murcia (−16.3%).
• Galicia reports 302,843 students for 2025–26 and a record teaching staff exceeding last year’s 31,603, lowering the pupil‑teacher ratio to 9.9, and an agreement with unions has averted 265 classroom closures while expanding infant class size caps of 20 to 5‑year‑olds and limiting mixed groups in rural schools.