Spain unemployment rises as regularisation impacts foreign jobseeker data

Spain's official unemployment figures rose by 19,517 people in July, bringing the total to 2,311,499. Despite this increase, the total remains lower than the previous year and represents the lowest July total since 2007.

Foreign nationals accounted for approximately 80% of this monthly increase, with 15,535 foreign jobseekers added to the registry. This rise is attributed to a mass regularisation scheme that allowed previously undocumented residents to obtain legal work permits and access public employment services. The Ministry of Labour noted that the surge in individuals with no previous employment record is fundamentally linked to this regularisation process.

In a separate trend regarding job creation, foreign nationals occupied 58% of new positions created in Spain during the year leading up to June 2026. The number of foreign nationals in the social security system grew by 350,200, exceeding the number of new Spanish citizen employees by nearly 100,000.