Elma Saiz defends the Government's migration policy and the contribution of migrants to economic growth

The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, at the event organized by the Cercle d'Economia in Barcelona

The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, highlighted the Government of Spain's migration policy and the contribution of migrants to the country's economic growth during her participation in a dialogue organised by the Cercle d'Economia in Barcelona on "The Need for a Migration Policy: Production Model, Integration and Social Welfare."

During her remarks, the minister discussed the migration phenomenon with the president of the Cercle d'Economia, Teresa García-Milà, and other members of the association, describing it as "a challenge, but also a great opportunity," and the Cercle's opinion on the matter.

"Aligning Spanish migration policy with an extensive production model based on job growth and a larger working-age population, but with relatively low levels of productivity, does not align with the scientific evidence we have, which indicates that the productivity challenge is primarily technological and organisational, not demographic," Saiz stated.

"Approximately 14.6% of the population residing in Spain holds foreign nationality, and more than 20% were born in another country (more than 10 million people). When we analyse this reality with data-and not with prejudices-we see something very clear: Spain is managing migration with positive results from an economic, employment, and social perspective," she pointed out.

In this regard, Saiz noted that our country is experiencing one of the most dynamic periods in its labour market in recent history, "and we are not the only ones saying this. The European Central Bank, the World Bank, and the important publication The Economist all point this out."

Spain ended 2025 with record numbers of foreign workers, recording more than three million registered with Social Security, after adding more than 800,000 since the labour reform, now representing 14.2% of all contributors. Of these, more than half a million are self-employed.

Furthermore, these workers are not only active in essential sectors. In recent years, there has been sustained growth in international talent and highly skilled migration across a wide variety of sectors, especially those requiring high skills. According to the latest data available in February 2026, self-employed individuals of foreign origin already represent one in three self-employed workers in the Information and Communications sector.

Attracting talent

Saiz also noted that Spain has promoted a profound reform of the system for validating foreign qualifications in recent years to avoid the underutilisation of human capital. According to 2025 data, the average processing time has already been reduced to approximately four and a half months.

At the same time, Spain has specific instruments in place to attract highly qualified international talent-a veritable administrative fast track-for top-level professionals, researchers, and entrepreneurs. Through this system, managed by the Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit, residence and work permits can be processed in approximately 20 days.

Furthermore, the recent reform of the Immigration Regulations has strengthened the connection between education, talent, and the labour market, making it easier for international students who study in Spain to remain in the country and enter the job market after completing their studies.

Impact on ageing

The minister stressed that "without migration flows, the proportion of the working-age population would fall much more rapidly, and the impact of ageing on economic growth would be considerably more severe."

Saiz cited a recent report from the Foundation for Applied Economic Studies (FEDEA), which indicates that between 2000 and 2019, the decline in the working-age population would have been more than double without the arrival of foreigners.

"Therefore, when we talk about immigration, we are talking about demography, growth, sustainability, and competitiveness. Enabling people to work legally and develop their life plan promotes their integration, reduces the underground economy, protects labour rights, and strengthens our labor market," she stated.

Extraordinary regularisation

In this regard, the minister referred to the extraordinary regularisation process initiated by the Government, which will allow the legalisation of the status of thousands of people who already reside in our country and are part of our communities.

In this regard, she explained that, in the case of Spain, various studies on the previous regularisation in 2005 show positive results from this measure. "On the contrary, the measure contributed to formalising labour relations, improving the integration and labour mobility of those regularised, increasing tax revenue, and reducing the informal economy in sectors with intensive migrant labour."

Non official translation