In a dozen municipalities in Málaga, at least one in four affiliates to the Social Security is of foreign nationality. Benahavís, with 40%, and Manilva, with 34%, top the list, according to the IECA.
The presence of foreign workers in the Málaga labour market reaches significant levels in a dozen municipalities in the province. In Benahavís, nearly four out of ten affiliates to the Social Security are of foreign origin: of the 3,097 average contributors registered throughout 2025, 1,230 were of foreign nationality, which represents around 40%. Following closely is Manilva, where 1,719 of nearly 5,000 workers in the municipality, 34%, come from other countries, as reported by Diario Sur based on data from the Institute of Statistics and Cartography of Andalusia (IECA).
Another five municipalities have around a third of foreign employment. This is the case for Ojén (290 out of 875 affiliates) and Alcaucín (163 out of 525), but also larger towns like Mijas (8,344 out of over 26,850), Fuengirola (nearly 8,000 out of about 25,800) and Benalmádena (almost 7,100 out of just over 24,000). In another half dozen, the proportion of foreign workers reaches at least 25%: Estepona, Frigiliana, Cómpeta, and Istán, among others. In the latter, this percentage translates to just 65 foreign employees out of a total of 260 contributors.
The geographer and professor at the University of Málaga Juan José Natera points out that these affiliation data according to the municipality of work, not residence, inform about the size of the labour market and the demanded activities. "In light of these figures, we can venture that in some municipalities, such as those in Huelva or Almería, the employment niche is found in agriculture. Regarding the Costa del Sol, in Málaga city itself or in Marbella, however, we can find workers employed in hospitality and tourism-oriented services, but also in other highly qualified jobs, which can indeed be residents of the more expensive coastal areas," explains Natera.
The professor is the author of a study on the places of residence of foreigners according to their income, in which he concludes that those with high incomes do not overlap with those on low incomes. The former are concentrated in the western Costa del Sol, in single-family homes in gated communities, while the latter are located in the northern part of Málaga city and in neighbourhoods like Divina Pastora, in Marbella, or Boquetillo, in Fuengirola. Natera also points out that the presence of immigrant workers in certain localities may be related to the ageing of the native population and that immigrants tend to arrive in Spain at working age.
Among the Andalusian capitals, Almería has the highest proportion of foreign workers (11.8%, 12,254 out of 103,626), closely followed by Málaga (11%, 38,500 out of more than 348,000 contributors). Further behind are Granada (7%), Sevilla (6.6%), Huelva (5.4%), Córdoba (4%), Jaén (3.5%) and Cádiz (2.3%). In absolute terms, Málaga city is the Andalusian municipality with the most foreign affiliates (38,500), ahead of Sevilla (around 28,000) and Marbella (nearly 22,500, 28% of the local total).
Of the 25 Andalusian municipalities with the most immigrants working, eight are from Málaga: Málaga, Marbella, Mijas, Fuengirola, Benalmádena, Estepona, Torremolinos and Vélez-Málaga. At the opposite end, the presence is almost negligible in a dozen small localities like Alpandeire, Atajate, Benarrabá, Cartajima, Igualeja, Júzcar, Montejaque, Pujerra and Serrato. Among medium-sized municipalities, the least foreign presence is in Cuevas del Becerro (2%, ten out of 507 affiliates), followed by Teba, Valle de Abdalajís, Benaoján and Arriate.
Overall in the province, Málaga ranks sixth in Spain for the number of foreign affiliates to the Social Security, with 146,396 contributors according to the latest data from the Ministry of Inclusion corresponding to last April.
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