Más de 144.000 personas solicitaron protección internacional en 2025 según el Informe Anual del Foro para la Integración Social de los Inmigrantes

The Forum for the Social Integration of Immigrants (FISI) today presented its Annual Report of 2025 at the headquarters of the Representation of the European Commission in Spain. The data show that applications for international protection reached 144,396 in 2025, experiencing a slight decrease compared to 2024 (167,366). Despite the figures, the growing trend continues, which has placed Spain as the third EU country in number of applications, with 17% of the total.

The Secretary of State for Migration, Pilar Cancela, who opened the presentation of the Report, said that “the requests for international protection registered in 2025 place us in the first line of European operational management, and consolidate the growing trend of people seeking protection in our country.”

From the analysis of the set of asylum applications processed, it follows that the first four nationalities are Venezuela, Mali, Colombia and Peru.

In addition, in 2025, 7,838 refugee statutes were granted, mainly to nationals of Nicaragua, Colombia, Afghanistan and Honduras.

Spain continues to be a point of reference in terms of the European Union’s external southern border in terms of both migration and asylum.  

The year 2025 was marked by the full entry into force of the new regulation on Foreigners approved by Royal Decree 1155/2024 and by the transition towards the implementation of the European Pact on Migration and Asylum.

New Regulation on Foreigners

One of the milestones of 2025 was the entry into force in May of the new Regulation on Foreigners, approved by Royal Decree 1155/2024, whose impact has been very positive. Applications for residence permits increased by about 50 per cent (from 495,000 applications filed by 20 May 2025 to 724,000 applications filed by 31 October). In addition, 95,000 people regularized their situation through some of the roots and 102,000 applications for residence were submitted for relatives of Spanish citizens, as well as 93,000 applications for studies.

Labour market

Regarding the situation of the population of foreign nationality in the labor market, the data indicate that the occupation of migrants and Spanish people is complementary, not competitive. The foreign population is employed in the occupation groups where the Spanish population regresses and many choose self-employment. Its work activity falls within sectors such as home care, agriculture and livestock, construction, clothing and housing services.

Among the recommendations of the FISI Report, it highlights the need to adopt measures to prevent the initial labor complementarity from becoming structural, promoting training in occupations where the foreign population is underrepresented.

The over-qualification rate among non-EU migrants under 35 years of age reaches 51.1%, more than twenty points higher than the Spanish rate, which stands at 31.2%. This means a loss of human capital at real cost to the economy and social cohesion.

Women of foreign nationality have a greater presence in the labour market than Spanish women, but are concentrated in the lowest paid occupations. 54.8% of women third-country nationals are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. The report recommends specific employment and equality policies.

Access to housing

Access to housing continues to be a fundamental obstacle to the social integration of immigrants. In the report, the FISI highlights that many real estate companies accept discriminatory practices, and that residential exclusion rates among non-EU residents exceed 47%.

Access to public services

The report states that the migrant population is experiencing obstacles to exercising rights such as access to healthcare, registration, safe reporting, certification of qualifications and access to education. This situation is aggravated by narratives that distort the reality about the use of public services.

In recent years, there have been widespread hoaxes that convey a vision of abuse of public services and social aid by migrants; however, the report describes the opposite reality: the difficulties many people have in accessing rights that they do have recognized.

Distorted narratives aggravate these difficulties and contribute to the subsequent denunciation, which makes it difficult to prosecute criminal behaviour such as racism and xenophobia. In addition, online hate speeches tend to be directed disproportionately towards migrants. The Spanish Observatory against Racism and Xenophobia (OBERAXE) states that in 2025 more than 740,000 racist and xenophobic contents were detected, of which 45% sought to dehumanize people of foreign origin.

Education system

The differences between the sons and daughters of migrants and young people with parents and/or mothers born in Spain are more noticeable with respect to university studies, since only 28% of the children of migrants access university, compared to 43% of the children of indigenous families. The report points out that the administrative situation of parents should not limit the right to education and social promotion of their children.

The FISI report recommends intensifying language learning and the participation of children of migrants in the first cycle of Early Childhood Education in the initial phase of the educational pathway.

The school is configured not only as a space for academic learning, but also as a key area for the construction of intercultural coexistence and equal opportunities for all students, with special attention to those of migrant origin. The report shows that integration does not happen automatically: it requires resources, structural policies and the active recognition of diversity as a value.

The report is available at: https://run.gob.es/yflfacc4