Spain's self-employed foreigners double in a decade, two women drown rescuing child who fell into dam, Spaniards spend half their salary on rent and more news from Spain this Tuesday June 2nd.
Two women drown after rescuing a child who fell into a dam in Castilla y León
Two women, aged 32 and 52, lost their lives this Sunday May 31st at the Baños de Cerrato dam, in Venta de Baños in Palencia, after jumping in to rescue a 5-year-old boy, who was the son and grandson of the deceased.
According to the Castilla y León emergency services at about 6:30 pm they received a call indicating that a minor was drowning and that at least one adult had gone in to rescue him, but could not bring the child to shore.
Spain's Ombudsman says migrants applying for amnesty should not be deported
He has requested that no deportation orders be issued against foreign nationals who have no criminal record and whose only condition is being an undocumented migrant. He called upon police to ask migrants to provide supporting documents showing that they have applied and undergo a verification process before initiating the execution of a possible deportation order.
The deadline for undocumented migrants to apply under the amnesty programme is June 30th.
Spain's self-employed foreigners double in a decade
The number of self-employed workers in Spain has increased by 7.2 percent in the last decade, between June 2016 and the same month in 2026, rising from 3.23 million to 3.46 million, according to the National Federation of Associations of Self-Employed Workers (ATA).
Foreigners currently represent 17 percent of the total number of self-employed people in Spain, compared to nine percent in 2016.
This could partly be down to the introduction of Spain's Digital Nomad Visa at the beginning of 2023, but also down to the fact that there are now more remote jobs available and more people working online.
Spaniards spend half their salary on rent
The average Spaniard dedicated half of their gross salary to paying rent for their home in 2025, compared to 47 percent in 2024, according to the study "Relationship between salaries and rental housing in 2025" based on data from InfoJobs and the Fotocasa Real Estate Index.
In 2025, rental costs in Spain rose by 6.9 percent reaching to €14.21/m² per month in December. This means that Spaniards had to dedicate half their salary to renting an 80-square-metre apartment, the highest percentage since 2019, based on the average gross salary in Spain recorded by InfoJobs, which in 2025 was €27,336. That equals €2,278 gross per month if divided into 12 payments.
