In the last decade, Barcelona and Catalonia have risen to become the top choice for foreigners moving to Spain for work, especially among Europeans, new data reveals.
A total of 24 percent of foreigners who have arrived in Spain since 2015 have chosen to settle in Catalonia, putting it just ahead Madrid, where 20.3 percent of those looking for work choose to stay.
Catalonia is now home to 29.5 percent of European citizens who have arrived in Spain in the last ten years searching for work, and 22.6 percent of those from the rest of the world.
This is likely due to a combination of factors. The northeastern region is one of the biggest tourist destinations in Spain, it is arguably the most cosmopolitan, and jobs in the hospitality industry are some of the most common.
For example, almost half of waiters and shop keepers in Catalonia are foreigners. There are also many multinationals which have their Spain branches in Barcelona and the language spoken in the office is English.
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According to the latest data from Social Security for March 2025, the average number of foreign workers in Spain has reached 2.9 million, which is a new record. This represents an increase of 1,357,862 compared to March 2015, showing an 86.9 percent increase over the last decade overall.
Of the 1.3 million new people who have signed up for Spain’s social security system, almost seven out of ten or 69.3 percent have settled in one of the four regions with the largest job number of opportunities.
These are Catalonia with 325,240 workers, Madrid with 276,007, Valencia with 171,615, and Andalusia with 168,138.
This is according to official data, but Spanish trade union Comisiones Obreras also estimate that there are around 160,000 non-EU foreigners working illegally in Catalonia alone.
After the regions above, the next most popular regions to find a job and settle are the Canary Islands (4.1 percent). and the Balearic Islands (3.8 percent), then Basque Country (3.7 percent), followed by Aragón (3.5 percent), then Castilla y León (3.4 percent), Galicia (3 percent), Castilla-La Mancha (2.9 percent) and Murcia (2.7 percent).
Navarre, Asturias, Cantabria, La Rioja, and Extremadura are the regions that have received the fewest foreign workers since 2015.
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In the last 10 years, 20 percent of foreigners arriving in Spain looking for work came from other EU countries, while the remaining 80 percent came from countries outside the EU.
Catalonia also retains the top spot when it comes to European citizens, which is home to almost a third of the total. Andalusia on the other hand only welcomed 6.2 percent of Europeans, compared to 13.9 percent of non-EU citizens.
In Madrid, there’s even mix – 21 percent are from the EU and 20.2 percent are from third countries, while in Valencia there are also slightly more Europeans – 14.9 percent versus 12.1 percent non-EU.
The Canaries and the Balearics both have a high proportions of non-EU workers compared to EU and Murcia and the Basque Country have more EU, compared to non-EU.
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But, given the problem of de-population in certain regions in Spain, it’s encouraging to see growth in the number of foreign workers particularly in the northern and central regions.
It’s in Galicia where the numbers have increased the most with 142.8 percent more registered workers in ten years.
This is followed by Castilla y León with a rise of 104.9 percent, the Basque Country with an increase of 104.6 percent, Asturias with 103.8 percent, Valencia with 100.6 percent, Cantabria with 97.1 percent, Navarre with 95.2 percent, Catalonia with 93.0 percent, and Aragón with 90.4 percent.
In May 2025, a series of new immigration reforms will come into force which will simplify the regularisation process for migrants living in Spain irregularly, so it’s likely we could see the official numbers of foreign workers rise.
READ MORE: How Spain will make residency and work permits easier for foreigners
