8,500 Romanians and Ukrainians leave Spain: the exodus in numbers

5,300 Romanians and 3,200 Ukrainians left Spain in a single quarter

Spain's macroeconomy is booming: GDP is growing 2.7% year on year, three times the eurozone rate, and employment is hitting all-time records. The economy as people actually experience it, however, tells a different story. In the second quarter of 2026 alone, 5,300 Romanians and 3,200 Ukrainians left Spain, according to figures reported by the financial press. This is no isolated episode: both nationalities rank among the top ten for outward migration, and the trickle has been going on for years.

The macro mirage versus the shopping basket

Real wages in Spain have grown 2.7% over the past 30 years. Housing, meanwhile, has become far more expensive much faster than salaries. Therein lies the key to the exodus: it is not that jobs are lacking, it is that jobs do not pay enough to live on. The irony has reached remarkable heights: some joke that "starting a business in the Donbas" now sounds more appealing than trying it in Alicante. The joke contains an uncomfortable truth about the erosion of purchasing power.

There are readings to suit every taste: some argue that population outflow eases pressure on housing and should bring prices down, even though it never does. Others contend that employers should raise wages instead of lamenting the labour shortage. And there is no shortage of people celebrating the departures with arguments that mix cliché and prejudice, but that is another story.

An exodus that will not stop on its own

The underlying problem is structural: as long as purchasing power remains stagnant and housing prices keep climbing, the foreign workers who came here to work — and Spanish workers too — will look for better prospects elsewhere. The data for the second quarter of 2026 suggest the exodus is accelerating. However brightly the macro figures keep shining, they will not stop more and more people from packing their bags. The question is when it will start showing up in the official headlines.