Construction union seeks legal status for 700,000 immigrants

Spain's construction union seeks legal status for 700,000 immigrants: labor need or wage strategy?

On a construction site outside Madrid, a retired foreman notes the shift: "Now they are all foreigners. Spaniards won't work for 1,350 euros a month." This quote captures the debate sparked by Spain's National Construction Confederation (CNC), which has requested mass regularization for 700,000 immigrants to fill vacancies. The request, made over a year ago, remains relevant: the sector claims a labor shortage of 700,000 people, yet public response is mixed.

The necessity argument: more housing, fewer workers

The CNC argues that without regularization, Spain cannot build enough housing to curb prices. Their calculations suggest needing 200,000 additional annual homes—and thus, workers. Youth unemployment data, estimated by some at over 20%, clashes with this demand: how can there be a labor shortage with so many unemployed? The union argues that Spanish youth refuse hard construction jobs for net salaries around 1,350 euros. "You won't get a Spaniard to work for less than 2,500 euros," the sector claims. Foreign workers, by contrast, accept between 1,200 and 1,800 euros.

The other view: labor dumping and downward pressure

Critics see the request as a maneuver to lower labor costs. "Flooding the country with labor to crash work prices," summarizes a recurring analysis. The mechanism is simple: by increasing the supply of workers willing to accept lower pay, sector wages are suppressed, allowing employers to maintain margins without improving conditions. In provinces like Vizcaya, it is noted that immigrants receive the Minimum Income Guarantee (RGI) while builders are supposedly scarce. "Either they work or they leave," some propose, citing the UAE model where social aid is for nationals only and work permits expire with contracts.

The demographic paradox and housing prices

The mass regularization request coincides with record-high housing prices. Some argue the solution is not to bring more people, but to remove those who do not pay net taxes or entered illegally: "Pressure on housing would drop quickly," they claim. However, the union insists that building more is the only way to increase supply, which requires workers. The paradox: while urban land remains undeveloped and bureaucracy unstreamlined, housing will stay scarce. And as long as construction wages don't rise, domestic labor will continue looking elsewhere.

A model under debate: temporary regularization or employment ties?

Among emerging proposals is the "Dubai" model: regularization tied to a work contract, no social aid, and mandatory departure upon employment end. Viewed by some as "slavish" and others as "realistic," this idea reflects the difficulty of balancing labor needs with migration control. The union, for its part, only asks for legal channels for those already working in the informal economy. "It's not about bringing more, but regularizing those already here," they clarify.

The debate continues. Meanwhile, on sites, workers' nationalities change, wages stagnate, and the 80-square-meter apartment remains above 250,000 euros. The puzzling data: despite the demand for 700,000 workers, Social Security registrations in construction grew only 2% last year.