Despite the record number of international tourists that are choosing Spain as their favourite travel destination, the country is dealing with a significant labour shortage noted in the hospitality industry.
In addition, human resources company Randstad, says that Spain needs at least 60,000 additional workers in order to deal with the current situation.
According to Euronews report, among the biggest struggles of authorities in Spain is to find workers to meet the demand,
The National Institute of Statistics (INE) revealed that in January alone, Spain welcomed 4.1 million international tourists, accounting for an increase of 65.8 per cent compared to the same period last year.
The same noted that visitors from other countries spent €5,218 million on their trip as well as stay, or €2,178 million (71.7 per cent) more than in compared to January last year figures.
In addition, NIE figures released on March 23 showed that in February this year, there was registered a total of 24 per cent increase with 16.8 million overnight stays compared to the same period in last year’s data.
The National Institute of Statistics report revealed that the increase in demand has also led to an increase in hotel prices, which stand at an average of 99.80 euros per room, or 13 per cent more compared to 2022 and 20 per cent more in comparison to 2019 statistics.
Still, Spain needs a large number of workers in tourism and hospitality in order to cope with the demand. Leading companies, including Melia, launched new campaigns on social networks in order to attract young talent workers.
In order to manage the current situation, Spain’s Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Jose Luis Escriva, last year said that the country would ease work permit rules for foreigners as a response to labour shortages noted in several industries, including the tourism sector.
“We are evaluating different aspects of the migration law and where there is room to improve it … in order to address bottlenecks in Spain’s labour market,” he pointed out.
He confirmed that the country would grant a larger number of temporary visas for sectors that need workers in order to help the country recover faster from the damages caused by the spread of the Coronavirus and its new variants.
In addition, the data published by the country’s government revealed that Spain’s social security recorded a total of 2,549,823 foreign affiliates in February, or 17,478 more workers than in the first month of this year. However, the country is struggling with a significant worker shortage.
