Spain, toldwith open data.
The economy, housing, jobs, politics and the regions. Compared with Europe, across regions and with the past, always one click away from the source.
Themes
- Health: waiting lists and spending by regionMore than 850,000 people are waiting for surgery in the public health system, and how long they wait depends heavily on where they live. Spain spends less on public health care than the EU average, and households pay a larger share out of their own pockets. Spending more per inhabitant does not guarantee shorter waits either: across regions, the two are barely related.
- Regional finance: who raises the money, who receives it and whom the regions oweThe regions run health and education, and together with municipalities they spend half of all public money. They are funded by a 2009 system that shares money out unevenly, and they owe more than half of their debt to central government. Both questions are open on 29 November: the bill to write off part of that debt lapsed when parliament was dissolved.
- Immigration in dataOne in five residents of Spain was born in another country, and one in four among those of working age. They are younger than the population born here, work in almost the same proportion and more often below their qualifications. Ahead of the 29 November election we look at where they come from, where they live, how they fare at work, what the evidence says about their effect on the economy and what the 2026 extraordinary regularisation involves.
- Demographics and pensions: an ageing countrySpain spends 13.2% of GDP on pensions and its median pension equals 81% of the median earnings of those about to retire, the second highest ratio in the EU. Real spending has risen 53.5% since 2008, and for every person over 64 there are fewer people in work than then. How to pay for pensions is one of the questions of the 29 November election.
Notes
Short pieces on one specific figure, with one or two charts.
- Turnout in 2023, at 66.6%, is the third lowest in a general election since 1977In the 16 general elections since 1977, turnout has ranged from 80.0% in 1982 to 66.2% in November 2019. By region, in 2023 there were 14.8 points between Castile-La Mancha and the Canary Islands, and part of the gap comes from voters who live abroad.
- Adjusted for inflation, the average wage is 3.7% below 2008 and the minimum wage 43.9% aboveBetween 2008 and 2025 the average wage rises 32.0% and prices 37.1%. The minimum wage almost doubles and goes from 38.9% to 58.1% of the average wage.
- Andalusia, Catalonia and Madrid elect 146 of the 350 deputies: who governs where and how much each region weighsOn 29 November, 350 seats are allocated by province. Three regions elect 41.7% of Congress, the PP holds the presidency of 11 of the 17, and a deputy from Castile and León represents fewer than half as many people as one from Madrid.
Three lenses
Each lens runs through every theme. Pick one and follow it from start to finish.
- Spain and EuropeWhere Spain stands in the EUHow Spain compares with the European Union average and with countries of its size: Germany, France, Italy and Portugal.
- Spain from withinThe differences between regionsThe differences between regions and provinces that the national average hides, and who governs each region.
- Spain over timeWhere we come fromHow each figure has changed since the 2008 crisis, the pandemic and the start of the current parliament in 2023.
About this project
Spain in data uses open data to show how Spain is doing, how it compares with Europe and how its regions differ.
Every chart links to its original source, explains its limits and lets you download the data. The main sources are INE (Spain's statistics office), Eurostat, the Ministry of the Interior, the Bank of Spain and the CIS (the public polling institute).