Canary Islands: 144,459 unemployed in August 2026

The three numbers that belong together

First, 144,459 people registered as unemployed, 291 more than in July. It is an increase, but a very small one: two tenths of one percent of the total.

Second, compared with August of the previous year the figure is 5,756 lower, a drop of 3.83 percent. In a seasonal labour market the year-on-year comparison is the more meaningful one, because it sets August against August rather than August against July.

Third, long-term unemployment fell to 63,326 people. That is 4,899 fewer than a year earlier, a decline of 7.18 percent, and 23 fewer than in July. According to the Canary Islands government's own statement, this is the lowest level since January 2009. One clarification matters here: that record applies specifically to long-term unemployment, not to the overall unemployment total.

The two provinces moved in opposite directions

The monthly rise was not spread evenly. In the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife the number of registered unemployed rose by 385 people (+0.56 percent), while in the province of Las Palmas it fell by 94 (−0.13 percent). Arithmetically, the whole of the archipelago's increase came from the western province.

No island-by-island breakdown appears in the official release. The published data cover the two provinces, not Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro separately. We therefore give no per-island figures.

Who is on the register

By sex, 60,651 men and 83,808 women were registered as unemployed in August. Women therefore account for roughly 58 percent of registered unemployment in the Canaries.

By sector, services dominate, as expected in a tourism-led economy: 114,926 registered unemployed, by far the largest block. Europa Press and ABC report that unemployment rose in every sector in August except agriculture, where it fell by 15 people. La Razón cites a monthly increase of 47 in industry and 68 in construction, and a fall of 79 among people with no previous employment. The widely circulated release does not give absolute stock figures for industry, construction or agriculture.

Among foreign nationals, reports put registered unemployment at 14,648 people, of whom 8,993 were from outside the EU — 255 fewer than in July (−1.71 percent), but 997 more than in August 2025 (+7.3 percent).

The Canaries against the Spanish trend

On social security affiliation, the islands moved the opposite way to the mainland. According to the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, cited by Europa Press, average affiliation in the Canaries rose by 2,153 to 963,791 people (+0.22 percent on the month, and +28,908 or +3.09 percent on the year).

Across Spain, social security lost 162,840 contributors in the same month, ending with an average of 22,345,226 (−0.72 percent). Europa Press describes it as the smallest August decline since 2021. The Spanish outlet Canarias en Pleno reports the Canaries as the only autonomous community to gain affiliates that month; we were unable to consult a full official region-by-region table confirming that, so we attribute the claim to the source.

Part of the Spanish picture rests on the extraordinary regularisation of foreign workers. Inclusion Minister Elma Saiz said 337,917 contributors from that process were registered as of 31 August. Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz attributed the larger-than-usual rise in registered unemployment partly to some of these people signing on at employment offices for the first time.

Contracts, and what the unions have said

According to the statement from the Canary Islands regional ministry for tourism and employment, which quotes the director general for labour, José Ramón Rodríguez, 59,880 employment contracts were registered on the islands in August, 2,339 more than in August 2025 (+4.06 percent). Of these, 25,026 were permanent, roughly 41.8 percent of the total, with permanent hiring up 5.21 percent year on year.

As of publication we could not source a specific assessment of the Canary August figures from CCOO Canarias or UGT Canarias. At national level, Carlos Gutiérrez of CCOO said the regularisation is bringing to the surface both employment and unemployment that previously sat outside these statistics, and the union warned about the labour market's structural dependence on seasonal activity. That assessment refers to Spain as a whole, not specifically to the Canaries.