Newly released government figures show Moroccan nationals make up 69,517 of Spain’s 139,446 foreign Minimum Living Income recipients, far exceeding every other foreign nationality represented in the program.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Moroccan nationals account for nearly half of all foreign recipients of Spain’s Minimum Living Income benefit, according to previously unpublished government data obtained through a public transparency request.
The National Social Security Institute recorded 139,446 foreign nationals as registered recipients of the Minimum Living Income, known by its Spanish initials as IMV. Of that total, 69,517 were Moroccan citizens, according to figures obtained by The Objective.
Nearly 280,000 people are registered as primary recipients of the benefit nationwide. Foreign nationals therefore represent approximately half of the listed recipients, with Moroccans comprising almost 50% of the foreign portion.
The disclosure provides the first official breakdown identifying the nationalities of foreign IMV recipients. Previous public statistics divided claimants only into Spanish and foreign categories without specifying the countries represented among non-Spanish beneficiaries.
No other nationality approached the Moroccan total.
Romanian nationals formed the second-largest foreign group, with 15,262 registered recipients. Ukrainians followed with 4,612, while Colombians accounted for 3,549.
The government data listed 3,362 Algerian recipients, 3,043 Italians and 2,826 Bulgarians.
Portuguese, Pakistani, Venezuelan, Brazilian and Nigerian nationals were also among those receiving the benefit. More than 100 nationalities appeared in the records, along with 215 recipients classified under “other nationalities” and 175 people identified as stateless.
The figures count only the person officially registered as the recipient for each household. They do not include every spouse, child or other dependent supported by the payment, meaning the total number of people benefiting from the program is substantially larger than the number of registered claimants.
The reported totals also exclude the Basque Country and Navarre. Both regions administer the Minimum Living Income separately under special fiscal and governmental arrangements, so their recipients are not included in the national figures.
Separate Social Security data indicates that approximately 70% of Moroccan women of working age do not formally contribute to Spain’s employment system. The figure reflects particularly low recorded labor-force participation among Moroccan women living in the country.
The nationality breakdown emerged as Spain faces renewed political pressure over migration from Morocco, particularly following the large-scale influx into Ceuta, the Spanish autonomous city on the North African coast.
More than 50,000 Moroccans were estimated to have entered Ceuta illegally during the previous week. Authorities and other observers have disputed how many of those migrants were subsequently returned to Morocco.
The combination of the Ceuta border crisis and the newly disclosed welfare figures is likely to intensify debate over immigration, employment participation and the financial effect of foreign households on Spain’s social-support system.
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