<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>A total of 338,576 Ukrainian citizens were legally residing in Spain as of December 31, 2025, representing an 8.1 percent increase (25,495 people) compared to December 2024, according to the latest data from the Permanent Observatory of Immigration (OPI), under the State Secretariat for Migration.</strong></h4> In the first half of 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine and the exodus began due to the war, the Observatory recorded an increase of more than 122,800 people with valid residence documents in Spain. Since then, the number has continued to rise, but with a slight downward trend: in December 2023, an 11 percent increase was recorded compared to the previous year, and in December 2024, the annual increase was 10.4 percent, reaching the aforementioned 8.1 percent of the last year. The majority of residence and work permits granted fall under the temporary protection regime, at 73 percent (248,687 people). Ukrainian citizens holding long-term residence permits represent 20 percent, with 67,630 people. The Permanent Observatory of Migration also reports that 58 percent of Ukrainians with residence permits are women (197,398) and 42 percent are men (141,178). Among those under 16, the gender distribution is fairly balanced, while among the working-age population, women predominate, especially in the 35-44 age bracket, where they almost double the number of men. This is largely due, according to the OPI (Observatory of Migrant Workers), “to the predominance of women among the adult Ukrainian population that arrived since the beginning of the war, although the Ukrainian community settled in Spain before the war was already somewhat feminized in the working-age population.” Furthermore, 43 percent of these people are concentrated in the provinces of Alicante, Madrid, and Barcelona, while Teruel, Asturias, and Santa Cruz de Tenerife are the provinces with the greatest annual increase, 34, 19, and 16 percent, respectively. The Observatory also records a 26.4 percent increase in Social Security affiliation among Ukrainians aged 16 and over holding temporary protection authorization. By employment sector, the most prominent activities are construction (6,052), hospitality (5,663), wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (4,048), and information and communications (3,733). Before the conflict, the largest sector was care and domestic service activities. Regarding the type of contract, permanent full-time contracts predominate, with 14,066 positions (39 percent).
