Spain short-term jobs: one in four lasts a week

Spain’s summer jobs market is turning over fast: 241,176 contracts signed in August lasted seven days or less. That is 21.6% of all contracts registered that month, according to figures from the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) reported on 13 September.

The average August contract lasted 37.85 days. It is the fifth straight year that the figure has stayed below 40 days.

Another 81,307 contracts lasted from seven to 15 days. A further 131,591 ran for between 15 days and one month, while 134,336 lasted between one and three months.

In all, 40.6% of August contracts lasted no more than a month. The share ending within three months was 52.7%.

August brings a surge in short-term hiring for the tourism season, the source said. Camp supervisors, entertainment staff, lifeguards and waiters are among the roles commonly filled over the summer.

Spain registered 1,144,827 contracts in August 2026, up 10.08% on August 2025. Of those, 704,553 were temporary contracts, accounting for 61.54% of the total.

A 2021 labour reform added an employer charge for temporary contracts lasting under 30 days. It now stands at 33.62 euros and was designed to deter very short contracts.

The Labour Ministry says recent figures cannot be directly compared with older data. The reform removed the former work-and-service contract, which could run for months or years, from the statistics.

Topics: Sea rescue · Tourism · Jobs & labour · Economy

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com