Foreign population and labor trends in Spain

Spain is experiencing significant demographic and economic shifts driven by foreign populations. In the regions of Murcia and Navarra, immigrant regularization processes have led to a notable increase in foreign worker affiliation with Social Security. In Murcia, foreign workers now represent 15.6% of total affiliates in the primary sector, while Navarra reached a historic high of 44,561 foreign affiliates following an extraordinary regularization process.

Broader demographic trends show that in Alicante, the foreign resident population has reached 534,254, making it the Spanish province with the highest proportion of foreign residents at 25.7%. This population is heavily concentrated in five municipalities—Alicante, Torrevieja, Elche, Orihuela, and Benidorm—which together host nearly 44% of the province’s foreign residents.

On a national scale, the number of foreign self-employed workers (autónomos) reached a record 531,568 in July 2026, a 9% increase from the previous year. This growth is outpacing the increase in total foreign employment. In Castilla-La Mancha, foreign entrepreneurship remains a critical economic factor; between 2022 and 2026, the addition of 3,857 foreign self-employed workers largely offset the loss of 3,328 Spanish nationals, helping to mitigate challenges related to territorial dispersion and the lack of generational replacement in sectors such as hospitality, commerce, and construction.