Spain’s Social Security affiliates related to tourism activities increased by 6.7 per cent last May compared to the same period of 2022, thus marking a total of 2,464,562 workers.
According to the data of the national tourism body of Spain, Turespaña, this is the best February in the historical series. The same source reveals that last year employment in tourism increased by 154,875 members, representing 12.2 per cent of the total number of members of all sectors of the Spanish economy, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“These data confirm the excellent start of the year for the tourism sector, with a complete recovery of employment and unbeatable prospects for Easter, despite the context of uncertainty derived from the war in Ukraine and inflation,” the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto pointed out in this regard.
As for other tourist activities, they increased by 60,257 workers, while in the hotel industry the increase was 88,990 affiliates. Turespaña figures also show that in travel agencies the increase was by 5,628 workers.
Such data also revealed that during the month of February the number of employees in the tourism sector, which constitutes 80.3 per cent of the total number of workers in the sector, increased by 8.4 per cent compared to the same month a year ago.
Based on the branches of activity, there was a strong increase in the salaried employment of travel agencies and tourist operators with 12.4 per cent and that of the hotel industry with 7.8 per cent. At the same time, there was also an increase in hospitality services by 6.1 per cent and in accommodation services by 14.4 per cent.
Moreover, self-employed women represent 19.7 per cent of the total number of subsidiaries, whose growth in the first month of this year was 0.3 per cent.
February of this year saw an increase in Spanish social insurance affiliates in all autonomous communities. As a result, the biggest increases were observed in Andalusia, Catalonia, the Canary Islands, the Community of Madrid and the Community of Valencia. The biggest increases were registered at the Canary Islands with 11.1 per cent and the Balearic Islands with 11.0 per cent.
Last week, the Spanish government also noted that the country’s social security registered a total of 2,549,823 foreign affiliates in February of this year, marking 17,478 more workers compared to January.
As the government explains, compared to February 2020, when there was recorded an increase of more than 360,000 workers from other countries in February 2023, of which more than 214,000 joined in the last twelve months.
