- Romanians, Moroccans and Colombians are among the three nationalities with the most formal employees in the market of the European country
Venezuela was ranked fifth in the table of foreign workers in Spain with 168,019 currently employed in various sectors in that country. While Colombia occupied third place with 222,217.
In 2015, Venezuelans with work in Spain were 16,631 while Colombians had 54,690 affiliates in Social Security.
According to data published on October 21 by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration of Spain, Venezuelans rose from the nineteenth position in the table of foreign workers in the European country.
Colombia and Venezuela, together, represent 13.6% of the total foreign employees in the European country.
The number of foreign affiliates to Social Security grew by 75% in the last 10 years, reaching 2.88 million people, at a faster rate than national employment (23.3%).
Other nationalities on the list
The report highlights a change in the composition of the sending countries, since in 2015 China and Ecuador completed the top 5 of the most frequent nationalities among foreign workers in Spain.
Now those positions are occupied by Colombia and Venezuela, which reveals the growth of these nationalities in the Spanish labor market.
Romania gained 45 thousand members and remains the first foreign nationality with 337,392 workers, followed by Morocco, with 325,611 employed and Italy, which fell to fourth position with 199,942.
Workers from China fell to seventh position in the last decade.
Labor sectors in Spain
By formal activities, foreign workers represent 44% among domestic workers, 33.8% in the general agricultural sector, 28.8% in the hospitality industry and 24.6% specifically in agriculture.
“Immigration explains 90% of the growth of the active population in Spain since 2021,” highlighted the Foundation for Applied Economic Studies (Fedea), whose analyzes conclude that foreign workers are increasingly in more occupations and reject that this situation harms in no way to the nationals.
This increase in foreign workers is also occurring with lower rates of occupational segregation, that is, they are gaining presence in more sectors, especially among men and thanks in part to the lower access barrier allowed by the language of the nationalities that are gaining weight.
“There is no evidence to support the claim that the arrival of immigrants has harmed the employment opportunities of natives,” said Fedea researcher Raquel Carrasco, who also ruled out that this would impact salaries.
According to the Fedea report, since 2019 the participation of immigrants in practically all formal occupations has increased, although they still have a lot of weight in some such as domestic work or caring for people.
Asylum applications in Spain
The Spanish Commission for Refugee Assistance (CEAR) revealed on September 13 that 111,463 people have requested asylum in Spain between January and August 2024. Of this figure, almost 40% correspond to Venezuelans.
CEAR indicated that 15% of these requests have been resolved favorably. This translates into an increase of 2% in August 2024. However, the organization detailed that the authorities continue to deny one in two.
Likewise, he warned that 40% of the people who receive asylum, mostly Venezuelans, are only granted protection for humanitarian reasons. This measure has fewer “fewer guarantees,” according to the organization.
Venezuelan, Colombian and Peruvian citizens in Spain accounted for almost 80% of the more than 163 thousand applications for international protection presented during 2023.
Altogether, more than 60,500 Venezuelan citizens requested asylum in Spain and 40,674 received protection for humanitarian reasons last year.
With information from EFE
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