The regularization of foreigners adds 46,839 affiliates to Social Security in Catalonia

BarcelonaThe extraordinary regularization of foreigners promoted by the Spanish government has added 46,839 affiliates to Social Security in Catalonia since the process began in April. This is according to the latest monthly report from the Ministry of Social Security, headed by Elma Saiz. Across the State, the increase in affiliates linked to the regularization exceeded 262,400 people by July 30 – the latest date for which data is available. Of these, 81.5% were in the general regime, while only 4.8% are registered as self-employed.

With this figure, Catalonia establishes itself as the second territory in the State with the most significant growth in foreign affiliates as a result of the regularization process, with 17.8% of the total. Only the Community of Madrid is above it, with 51,844 foreigners registered with Social Security, 19.8% of the total base. It is followed by Andalusia and the Valencian Community, with 33,211 and 31,690 people registered on July 30, both around 12%. In the rest of Spanish territory, the increases are substantially more moderate.

According to Saiz, the increase in affiliation among foreigners is "particularly dynamic", with an average of approximately 3.5 million affiliates during the month. "Overall, they already represent 15.6% of the total affiliates and continue to play an essential role in the labor market and the sustainability of the Social Security system," the minister stated in a press release.

The new influx of foreigners registered with Social Security has also increased the base of registered job seekers. According to data released by the Spanish Ministry of Labor and Social Economy, Catalonia closed July with 68,058 unemployed foreigners, about 5,143 more than in the same month of 2025. This represents an 8.17% year-on-year increase. In absolute terms, no territory in the State surpasses Catalonia in this magnitude: only the Valencian Community, with approximately 58,982 foreign unemployed, and the Community of Madrid, just over 50,000 job seekers from outside Spanish borders, come close.

Throughout Spain, the number of unemployed foreigners rose to 357,621, a year-on-year increase of approximately 9.5%, after adding nearly 31,000 foreign job seekers compared to July 2025.

Unemployment is rising, but remains at minimums

In the population as a whole, unemployment registers an increase of 19,517 people compared to June. However, if the basis for comparison is July 2025, the State can celebrate a reduction of more than 93,100 unemployed people, nearly 3.9% less than 12 months earlier. In absolute terms, registered unemployment stands just above 2.31 million people, the lowest figure in a July since 2007.

From the ministry led by Yolanda Díaz, they acknowledge the monthly increase in unemployment, but attribute it, to a large extent, to the merits of the labor reform. The Spanish executive's labor department maintains that July is "increasingly less sensitive to seasonality" and, therefore, the exuberant monthly employment increases registered during the past decade have been left behind. Between 2010 and 2019, they recall, registered unemployment was reduced on average by more than 45,000 people during the seventh month of the year, while since the approval of the reform, the average reduction in job seekers has been below 5,000.

Catalonia is, it should be noted, the community that registers the most significant increase in unemployment, with about 7,700 more job seekers than in June. It is followed by the Valencian Community, with about 7,000 more unemployed, and the Community of Madrid, with 3,822 job seekers registered above the previous month's figure. It should be said that the territorial increase coincides with the communities that have added the most foreigners due to the extraordinary regularization. As in the Spanish case, the increase is only noticeable if compared to this year's June: in year-on-year terms, in fact, the number of unemployed fell by more than 4,500 people. In total, the Principality closed the month of July with 314,874 unemployed, the lowest figure in a seventh month of the year since 2007.

Regarding the quality of the employment created, according to the Ministry of Social Security, it "continues to advance" in a positive direction. According to data from the department led by Saiz, the largest increase in new affiliates in year-on-year terms is registered in the segment of full-time permanent contracts, with more than 327,000 people added. On the other hand, only about 70,000 affiliates with part-time contracts were added.

"Collective success" with foreigners

According to Saiz, the figures for new registrations with Social Security following the regularization are "a collective success" in the Spanish labor market. In statements to the media, the head of Social Security assured that "a positive impact is already being felt" caused by the normalization of migrants' situations. The definitive effect on affiliation, however, will be noted once the resolution of all applications is finalized, expected in the coming months. "We are already exceeding 70%, but we are working to continue applying this positive impact," celebrated the minister. Similar was the interpretation by the Secretary of Labor of the Generalitat, Paco Ramos, who welcomed the growth in affiliation but warned that the data on the impact on the labor market of the regularization of foreigners will not be closed until September or October. Nevertheless, he defended the process: "We have regularized people so that the jobs they were doing are subsequently regularized."

Díaz, for her part, defended that the "unusual" increase in registered unemployment in both Catalonia and Spain in July is mainly explained by the regularization of foreigners "to whom rights have been recognized." Beyond this distortion, the head of Labor and Social Economy assured that "labor policies are bearing fruit," with a special focus on young people. In fact, she highlighted that unemployment among those under 25 years old is at historic lows, with fewer than 160,000 job seekers.

Among the main proponents of regularization were the major unions, which have dismissed any distortion of the labor market due to this procedure. "Far from straining the market, it has contributed to bringing employment to light, strengthening affiliation, and granting rights to hundreds of thousands of people," they state from UGT in a statement. Comisiones Obreras, for its part, highlights the decrease in unemployment, which makes full employment "increasingly possible."

The interpretation of the data from the employers' side has been less flattering: Foment del Treball, in a statement, highlighted the increase in unemployment, which marks a "worrying trend that has already been repeated in recent years." The decoupling between the rise in affiliations and the increase in unemployment demonstrates, in the eyes of the entity chaired by Josep Sánchez Llibre, "a mismatch between supply and demand in the Catalan labor market."