The number of unemployed people in the Balearic Islands reached 26,547 in September 2026, an increase of 493 compared with the same month last year, representing a 1.9% year-on-year rise. It is the first annual increase in unemployment recorded since May 2021. The regional minister for Labour, Public Administration and Social Dialogue, Catalina Cabrer, linked the change to the effects of the extraordinary regularisation process.
By island, unemployment increased most sharply in Ibiza, by 6.5%, followed by Formentera at 2.9% and Mallorca at 1.9%. Menorca, by contrast, recorded a 4.5% decline.
Among those registered as unemployed in September were 1,102 foreign nationals registered under the RE code, corresponding to the extraordinary regularisation process. The number of unemployed non-EU foreign nationals stood at 4,806, 1,580 more than a year earlier and an increase of 49%.
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Unemployment in the Balearic Islands rises 1.9% in September, the first year-on-year increase since May 2021. 1,369 jobseekers registered under the RE code
Since the start of the regularisation process, 1,369 jobseekers have been registered with the SOIB under the RE code. Of these, 1,102 are unemployed jobseekers, accounting for 81.0%; 139 are employed jobseekers, or 10.2%; and 46 are permanent seasonal workers, representing 3.4%.
Registrations under the RE code have risen progressively, from 224 at the end of June to 587 at the end of July, 870 at the end of August and 1,369 in September.
Regarding their educational profile, 89.2% have only primary education, while 4.9% have no formal education.
“The extraordinary regularisation process is beginning to have an effect on our labour market. For the first time since 2021, year-on-year unemployment has increased and the percentage of unemployed non-EU foreigners has risen by 49%,” Cabrer said.
Permanent contracts account for 64.6% of hiring
A total of 36,120 new contracts were registered in the Balearic Islands in September, 3,517 more than a year earlier, representing an increase of 10.8%.
Permanent contracts accounted for 64.6% of the total, compared with a national average of 44.3%, keeping the Balearic Islands at the highest percentage of permanent hiring in Spain.
Social Security registrations in the Balearic Islands reached 682,486 people in September, an increase of 29,078 compared with the same month last year, equivalent to 4.5%.
The self-employed scheme recorded 110,291 registrations, representing 16.2% of total registered employment. This was 3,014 more than a year earlier, an increase of 2.8%, and 167 more than the previous month, up 0.2%.