Spain has just surpassed 3.6 million foreign workers registered with Social Security, a record that confirms the increasing impact of immigration on the country's labor market.
In September 2026, there was an average of 3,635,979 foreign affiliates, according to the latest data published by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration.
There are 84,220 more workers than in August and 547,637 more than a year ago. Foreigners now represent approximately 16.2% of all Social Security affiliates in Spain.
The data emerges within a labor market that also hit overall highs: Spain reached an average of 22,437,553 affiliates in September, 92,327 more than in August and 739,888 more than a year earlier.
The full report can be accessed through the official information published by the Ministry of Inclusion and Social Security.
Construction drives employment growth
The September data shows that construction is the sector with the most significant growth in affiliation over the past year when combining workers from the General Regime and self-employed individuals.
The year-on-year increase reaches 6.9%.
Real estate activities follow, with a growth of 5.9%; artistic, sports, and entertainment activities, with 5.3%; and activities related to publishing, broadcasting, content production, and distribution, with 4.6%.
Within the General Regime exclusively, growth is even greater in certain sectors: agriculture, livestock, forestry, and fishing increase by 8.6%, construction by 8.1%, and artistic, sports, and entertainment activities by 5.2%.
This does not necessarily mean that these are the sectors with the most available job offers at the moment, but it does indicate where the number of people working and contributing is increasing most rapidly.
Where do foreign workers have more influence?
To understand which activities currently attract the most foreign employment, one must refer to the latest specific breakdown available, corresponding to August.
The Social Security reported at that time that foreign workers already accounted for 33.6% of registered employees in hospitality.
They also accounted for 28.1% in agriculture, 27% in construction, 20.2% in administrative activities, and 18.5% in transportation.
This makes these sectors some of the main entry points for those coming to Spain from other countries.
Construction: growth and strong foreign presence
The construction sector stands out particularly because it combines two key characteristics: it is the sector with the highest year-on-year growth in overall employment, and at the same time, more than a quarter of its workforce is made up of foreign workers.
This information is relevant for immigrants seeking to quickly enter the job market and who have experience in masonry, electrical installations, plumbing, HVAC, painting, carpentry, or maintenance.
The conditions, salaries, and requirements vary depending on the trade, the autonomous community, and the applicable agreement, so the growth of membership does not guarantee the existence of a specific vacancy by itself.
Hospitality remains one of the major gateways
Although it does not currently lead in the percentage growth of total employment, the hospitality sector remains the industry with the highest proportion of foreign workers among the major activities of the General Regime.
Approximately one in three members of the sector comes from another country.
Restaurants, cafeterias, hotels, and tourist establishments continue to provide a pathway to employment for many newcomers, especially for positions in the kitchen, dining room, cleaning, and auxiliary services.
This reality also affects professionals who arrive in Spain with very different qualifications.
Agriculture, transportation, and administrative activities
Agriculture is another sector with a high dependence on foreign labor: over 28% of its members are of other nationalities.
In administrative activities and auxiliary services, the proportion exceeds 20%, while in transportation it is close to 19%.
Within these categories, very different occupations are grouped together, ranging from logistics, storage, and driving to cleaning, maintenance, business services, and temporary jobs related to agricultural campaigns.
Self-employment is also growing strongly
The market is not only growing through contracts for third parties.
Spain reached 3,483,645 self-employed workers in September, 70,353 more than a year earlier.
The largest increases are seen in activities related to electricity and gas (+15.6%), telecommunications, computer programming, and technology consulting (+14.3%), real estate (+9%), and publishing and content production (+8.4%).
Among foreigners, this trend was already noticeable in August, when the number of self-employed individuals from other nationalities reached 537,660, a 10.3% increase compared to the previous year.
The foreign presence is particularly high among self-employed workers in telecommunications and computer programming, where approximately one in three freelancers comes from another country.
More than 421,000 regularized individuals are already affiliated
Another factor that is rapidly changing employment figures is the extraordinary regularization process taking place in Spain during 2026.
As of September 30, there were 421,306 foreigners registered in Social Security from that process, 83,389 more than at the end of August.
The majority, 326,256 people, equivalent to 77.4%, were part of the General Scheme as employees.
Another 22,681 were registered as self-employed workers.
Colombia, with 118,485 affiliates from the process, and Venezuela, with 71,999, lead the nationalities published by the Ministry.
What does this scenario mean for Cubans in Spain?
For Cubans residing in Spain, the figures indicate a growing market; however, the situation greatly depends on each person's professional profile and administrative status.
Those looking to integrate quickly may find more opportunities in sectors such as hospitality, construction, logistics, agriculture, and auxiliary services, where foreign presence is already quite significant.
For university professionals, however, there is a different challenge.
Doctors, nurses, dentists, and other regulated professionals need to obtain the relevant recognition before fully practicing their profession in Spain.
CiberCuba reported this year that Cuba is among the countries with the highest number of university degrees recognized in Spain, reflecting the increasing influx of Cuban professionals into the country.
The recognition for regulated professions is processed through the Portal for the Recognition of Foreign University Degrees by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.
Where to look for job opportunities
An official tool for locating job vacancies is Empléate, the Single Employment Portal of SEPE.
The service allows users to search for job offers by profession, province, sector, and other criteria, bringing together vacancies from both public employment services and collaborating companies and portals.
It also allows you to find out which occupations are being hired and to create professional profiles to receive recommendations.
Record enrollment figures do not mean that securing a job is automatic, but they indicate a significant transformation in the Spanish labor market: more than half a million foreign workers have joined in just one year and now represent approximately one in every six affiliates in the country.
For Cubans arriving in Spain, identifying which sectors are growing, which activities employ the most foreigners, and what professional procedures need to be completed can make a significant difference when it comes to entering the job market.
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