Spain Will Allow Thousands Of Foreigners To Work In The Country

As of this week, the Spanish Government approved a new regulation of the Immigration Regulation with the intention that migrants can occupy jobs where today there is a shortage of labor.

Although the measure was endorsed by the Council of Ministers on Tuesday, it will enter into force only 20 days after it is published, which is expected to be soon and could benefit thousands of foreigners and thousands of companies in the tourism, hotel, and catering sectors. , transportation, and construction, among other areas that seek workforce. If you are looking at starting a business or taking your team to Spain, check out this guide on how to employ in Spain, to get started.

What does this new regulation consist of?

The measure seeks to facilitate and speed up the incorporation of foreigners into the Spanish labor market. This means, simplifying the requirements to be employed, allowing foreign students to work, facilitating the hiring of origin, and regularization by roots.

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For example, for students, until now, the student visa did not give a work permit.  The new regulation opens the door for any student who takes a training course to automatically have a work permit.

Today, according to the union of small and medium-sized companies (Cepyme), Spain has about 109,056 vacancies and difficulty in hiring adequate personnel. Paradoxically, the Iberian country also has one of the highest unemployment rates in the eurozone, with around 13% of people being unemployed. 

To counteract the need for labor, this new regulation has a new formula in mind: rooting by training. This means that it will allow the immigrant who has already lived in the country irregularly for more than 2 years and who is trained in a sector in which workers are being sought to reside legally. If at the end of their training, the foreigner gets a job, they can receive a work visa that regularizes their stay.

Currently, foreigners who live in Spain or want to go live in the European country can only get a work permit on their own or by someone else. Employed, means that there must be an employer willing to carry out the procedures and request the work permit for the vacancy that is being offered. In addition, the employee cannot be in the country during the process and the position must be on the list of requested vacancies.

On its own, it also requires a long list of requirements. For these, the applicant cannot be in Spain during the process either. You have to prove sufficient finances for the business you intend to establish in Spanish territory, submit a feasibility report on the project, register as a self-employed person in the country, among other requirements.

According to data from Statista Spain, during 2021, the number of new irregular immigrants in the European country reached 41,945, below the 201,638 regular immigrants. Andalusia is the autonomous community with the highest number of arrivals.

The majority of foreigners (regular and irregular) come from Morocco (775,936), Romania (658,773) and the United Kingdom (313,948), according to figures from Statista. In fourth place is Colombia (297,934), followed by Italy (280,152), Venezuela (209,223), China (197,704), Germany (139,811) and Ecuador (127,334). The following list of Latin countries is made up of: Honduras (123,333), Peru (112,297), Argentina (96,517), Brazil (86,074), Paraguay (70,090), Cuba (67,967), Dominican Republic (61,090), Bolivia (57,766) and Nicaragua (57,656).