Spainfographics 9
Rubbish talk, municipal social spending rankings, and a deep dive into Spain's job market
Welcome to the latest edition of La Comunidad’s Spainfographics - frequent servings of interesting, relevant, quirky infographics that help explain where Spain is today, and where it’s heading.
More importantly, these are the kind of facts that inform my reporting and opinions.
I hope you find these informative - the floor is open (in the comments section) to give your two cents.
What surprised you? What trends do you think will soon change? Have your say below.
So let’s get into it!
Rubbish talk
Headline: Spain wastes the least amount of food in the European Union - half the EU average! Dense urban living and easy access to fresh ingredients help.
A nation of homeowners - when they move out of home
Headline: 73.7% of independent adults own their home in Spain, well above the EU average (68%).
In 2024, homeownership was more common than renting across all EU countries except Germany, where 53% of residents were tenants - more than double Spain’s rate.
Spaniards’ tendency to remain in the family home well into their thirties helps keep tenant numbers low. Many simply can’t afford to move out and rent a place.
Social spending
Headline: A study of over 400 Spanish municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants found huge disparities in per capita spending on social services in 2024: Isla Cristina (Huelva) led with €434.13 - 12 times higher than bottom-placed Galapagar (Madrid) at €35.89.
Notably, eight of the top ten municipalities were in Andalusia.
You can search for any municipality here.
The jobs market
Headline: Spain ended 2025 with an unemployment rate of 9.93% - the first time it has fallen below 10% since 2008.
Headline: The number of people in employment in Spain hit a record 22.46 million in 2025, an increase of 605,000 on 2024. Unemployment, meanwhile, fell to 2.47 million.
Headline: At the end of 2025, 3.58 million foreigners (me included) and 1.2 million dual nationals accounted for 21.4% of Spain’s workforce - the highest quarterly share on record.
Headline: On the peninsula, Extremadura had the highest youth unemployment in 2025 at 37.1%, while Andalusia recorded the highest overall unemployment at 14.7%.
Headline: In 2025, the Valencia region recorded the highest job growth rate (3.69%) on the Spanish peninsula, nearly 57% above the national average (2.37%).
Headline: In 2025, the education sector led job growth in Spain with a 4% increase, followed by healthcare, social services, and specialised construction.
Headline: The monthly mininum wage in Spain is now €1,381 - up from €950 in 2020.
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Photo of the week: A deeply disagreeable January is finally over. This brilliant book and plenty of coffee got me through a month of high winds and torrential rain - the kind of weather that makes umbrellas redundant.
Two elderly locals told me they hadn’t seen a January like it in the past 20 years.
Until next time amigos,
Brendan
What I found interesting is the list of EU countries by home ownership versus tenancy. The wealthier the country, Norway excepted, the lower the ownership percentage. I have some speculative thoughts on why, but expect this is worthy of deeper analysis. On the one hand, the tendency you mention, to stay in the parental home longer due to economics, is probably significant. I also hypothesise, however, that there may be a relationship with the high cost of ownership in wealthier economies. And, I wonder, is there a relationship with the growing tendency toward a rentier society in these wealthier economies?
Anyway, good collection. Thank you.
I’m trying to understand Spain better these days. Recent events in the US have made many of us more aware than ever of a wider world - a good thing I’d say. Thanks Brendan. Useful info I might not otherwise find on my own.