Spain foreign worker affiliations reach record 3.55 million

Social Security affiliation foreign workers labor market regularization process employment statistics

Spain's Social Security system has reached a historic milestone, with foreign worker affiliations averaging 3,551,759 in August. This represents a 15.7% year-on-year increase, significantly outpacing the 3.1% growth of the total system. This surge is largely attributed to an extraordinary administrative regularization process initiated in April, which has already accounted for approximately 337,917 new affiliations.

Foreign workers now constitute 15.9% of all Social Security affiliates in the country. Key nationalities driving this growth include Moroccans (407,350), Colombians (368,901), and Romanians (336,681). The impact is particularly pronounced in sectors such as hospitality, where foreign workers make up 33.6% of the workforce, as well as in agriculture (28.1%), construction (27%), and administrative activities (20.2%).

Regional data shows varied growth patterns. In Castilla y León, foreign affiliation rose by nearly 20% compared to the previous year, driven by regularization. Other regions like Galicia and Andalusia also reported significant increases. In Ourense, foreign workers surpassed the 12,000 mark for the first time, with hospitality being a primary driver of this local growth.

Entities

Andreu Cruañas · Asempleo · CCOO · Colombia · Encuesta de Población Activa · Loli García · Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones · Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration · Morocco · Romania · Spain

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.

[● 2 SOURCES] Multiple employment includes both those supplementing insufficient income and professionals monetizing specific skills.
[● 2 SOURCES] The increase in multiple employment is attributed to poor job quality, part-time contracts, and salary issues.
[● 2 SOURCES] People with multiple jobs represent approximately 3% of the total employed population.
[● 2 SOURCES] The service sector accounts for 80% of multiple employment cases, totaling 522,600 people.
[● 2 SOURCES] The number of people with more than one job reached 651,200 in the second quarter of 2026.
[● 2 SOURCES] The number of people with multiple jobs increased by 12% over the past year, adding 70,000 people.