The Spain tech job market in 2026 is busy but concentrated. On Spain Dev Jobs on 15 October 2026, we tracked 2,583 open tech jobs at 411 companies where English is the working language, and 57% of them were in just two cities, Barcelona and Madrid. Python, cloud and Kubernetes skills were in the highest demand, the median posted salary was €74,500, and almost a third of jobs were fully remote. Visa sponsorship was rare: only 2% of ads mentioned it.
This guide brings together our own job data and official statistics, so you can see where the tech jobs in Spain are, what they pay and how realistic it is to get one as a foreigner. Board figures come from our October 2026 report, which covers the jobs on this board, not the whole Spanish market.
The Spain tech job market at a glance
| Indicator | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| English-speaking tech jobs on our board | 2,583 at 411 companies (15 October 2026) | Spain Dev Jobs report |
| New jobs found, 1 to 15 October 2026 | 2,417 | Spain Dev Jobs report |
| Median posted salary | €74,500 (306 ads with a salary) | Spain Dev Jobs report |
| Fully remote | 32% | Spain Dev Jobs report |
| Mention visa sponsorship | 2% (42 jobs) | Spain Dev Jobs report |
| ICT specialists employed in Spain | just over 1 million in 2025, 10.2% of the EU total | Eurostat |
| Average pay in the information and communications sector | €42,741.94 in 2024, up 7.7% | INE |
| Unemployment rate, all jobs | 9.87% in Q2 2026 | INE EPA |
New-job counts grow when we add companies to the board, so they don’t tell you whether hiring went up or down. Treat them as a sense of scale.
Where the tech jobs in Spain are
Tech jobs in Spain cluster in two cities. In our October 2026 report:
| City | Jobs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Barcelona | 768 | 30% |
| Madrid | 693 | 27% |
| Valencia | 78 | 3% |
| Málaga | 74 | 3% |
| A Coruña | 41 | 2% |
| Sant Cugat del Vallès | 38 | 1% |
| Seville | 14 | 1% |
A large share of the rest are remote jobs open to people anywhere in Spain. If you want the widest choice, Barcelona or Madrid is the safe bet. If you want a smaller, cheaper city, Valencia and Málaga have real but much smaller markets; see our cost of living in Barcelona and Madrid vs Barcelona guides to compare.
Software engineer jobs in Madrid
On 16 October 2026, our Madrid page listed 694 English-speaking tech jobs at 140 companies. Madrid has more banks, insurers, consultancies and corporate tech hubs than Barcelona: that week’s list included Deutsche Bank, ING, Swiss Re, Accenture and Roche, next to start-ups such as Seedtag. Browse backend jobs in Madrid or Python jobs in Madrid to narrow it down.
Which roles are in demand?
Share of the 2,583 jobs in our October 2026 report, by role:
| Role | Jobs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Machine learning and AI | 279 | 11% |
| DevOps and SRE | 258 | 10% |
| Product | 212 | 8% |
| Backend | 161 | 6% |
| Security | 138 | 5% |
| Data science | 129 | 5% |
| Data engineering | 95 | 4% |
| Design | 94 | 4% |
| Engineering management | 82 | 3% |
A third (851 jobs) did not fit a single role category, such as IT operations, solutions engineering or mixed roles.
Machine learning and AI is now the largest single category. Add the 418 jobs that mention LLMs, and AI skills appear across many roles, not only in specialist ones.
Most requested skills
An ad can name several technologies, so these overlap:
| Skill | Jobs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Python | 871 | 34% |
| AWS | 617 | 24% |
| Kubernetes | 491 | 19% |
| SQL | 423 | 16% |
| LLMs | 418 | 16% |
| Azure | 397 | 15% |
| Google Cloud | 322 | 12% |
| Docker | 294 | 11% |
| Java | 264 | 10% |
| TypeScript | 263 | 10% |
If you are choosing what to learn next for the Spanish market, Python plus one cloud platform plus Kubernetes covers a large share of the jobs.
Seniority: a market for experienced people
The seniority split is the most important number for job seekers. Of the ads that state a level:
- Senior: 838 jobs (32% of all jobs)
- Lead: 181 (7%), Staff: 121 (5%), Principal: 73 (3%)
- Intern: 65 (3%), Junior: 59 (2%), Mid-level: 19 (1%)
44% of ads don’t state a level. Even so, the pattern is clear: international employers in Spain mostly hire experienced engineers. Juniors and graduates have far fewer openings and usually need a local route in, such as an internship, a Spanish degree or a graduate programme.
What tech jobs in Spain pay
Posted salaries on our board
Only 12% of ads state a salary, so these figures lean towards companies that publish pay, often international ones. From 306 ads with a yearly salary in euros:
| Group | Median | Usual range (10th to 90th percentile) |
|---|---|---|
| All jobs | €74,500 | €40,950 to €140,000 |
| Backend | €86,500 | €52,000 to €127,200 |
| Product | €84,000 | €56,940 to €152,300 |
| Machine learning and AI | €71,630 | €43,300 to €147,720 |
| Security | €68,500 | €36,300 to €106,750 |
| DevOps and SRE | €62,250 | €43,600 to €120,200 |
| Data engineering | €62,000 | €43,120 to €99,000 |
| Data science | €60,750 | €38,000 to €106,634 |
| Barcelona | €71,250 | €38,600 to €137,000 |
| Madrid | €60,500 | €39,200 to €100,000 |
Other salary sources
- Self-reported: on 16 October 2026, Levels.fyi showed a median total compensation of €55,411 for software engineers in Spain, from 1,841 submissions (Levels.fyi). That includes bonus and stock.
- Official: the INE’s 2024 salary survey puts average gross pay at €42,741.94 in the information and communications sector, up 7.7% on 2023 and the third-highest of any sector, against €29,540.26 for all workers (INE). The INE has no separate category for software engineers.
Our software engineer salaries guide goes deeper, and the salary after tax calculator turns any gross figure into take-home pay.
Spain’s tech workforce
According to Eurostat, Spain had just over 1 million ICT specialists in employment in 2025, 10.2% of all ICT specialists in the EU. Across the EU, ICT specialists made up 5.0% of employment. In Spain, 206,800 of them were women (Eurostat).
The wider labour market is improving but still has high unemployment by EU standards. Spain’s unemployment rate was 9.87% in the second quarter of 2026, with 22,779,000 people in work, up 510,200 on a year earlier (INE). These headline figures cover all jobs; the INE does not publish a separate unemployment rate for tech workers.
IT jobs in Spain for foreigners
English is enough for many jobs
The jobs on our board are at companies where English is the working language. In October 2026, 2,576 of 2,583 did not ask for Spanish. Spanish helps in daily life and widens your options, but you can build a tech career in Spain without it. See our guide to getting a tech job in Spain without Spanish.
The visa question
EU, EEA and Swiss citizens can work in Spain without a permit. Everyone else needs a permit, and that is where the market gets narrow:
- 2% of jobs (42) mentioned visa sponsorship, at nine companies on our visa sponsor companies page.
- 10% (257) said they accept applicants living in another country: see jobs you can apply for from abroad.
- 7% (193) offered relocation support.
The usual permit for a skilled job offer is the Highly Qualified Professional permit or EU Blue Card (Ley 14/2013). Since 28 June 2026, the Blue Card salary threshold is €41,356.36 a year, or €33,085.09 for shortage occupations and recent graduates (Order PJC/44/2026, our salary check). Most posted tech salaries clear it. Our work visa guide explains the steps.
If you already work remotely for a company outside Spain, the digital nomad visa is another route: see working remotely from Spain for a foreign employer.
Who hires the most
The companies with the most open jobs on our board in October 2026 were Airbus (115), Allianz (73), Roche (72), Nebius (65), Accenture (44), Fever (44), Air Apps (43), T-Systems Iberia (43), Preply (39) and Scopely (37). That mix of aerospace, insurance, pharma, AI cloud, consulting and consumer apps shows how broad the employer base is. Browse all English-speaking tech companies in Spain.
How to use these numbers in your job search
- Target the two big cities first, unless you are remote. That is where most jobs and most sponsors are.
- Lead with in-demand skills. Python, cloud, Kubernetes and AI experience appear in the most ads.
- Be realistic about seniority. If you are junior and need a visa, aim for companies with graduate programmes, or consider studying in Spain first.
- Check the salary against the Blue Card threshold before you apply, if you need a permit.
- Set up alerts. New jobs appear every day; job alerts send you the ones that match.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Spain tech job market good in 2026?
For experienced engineers, yes. We tracked 2,583 English-speaking tech jobs at 411 companies in October 2026, with a median posted salary of €74,500. Most jobs are senior, though, and only 2% mention visa sponsorship. Juniors and people who need a visa face a much narrower market than EU citizens with several years of experience.
What tech jobs are in high demand in Spain?
On our board in October 2026, machine learning and AI was the largest role category (279 jobs), followed by DevOps and SRE (258), product (212), backend (161) and security (138). The most requested skills were Python (34% of jobs), AWS (24%), Kubernetes (19%), SQL (16%) and LLMs (16%).
Can foreigners get IT jobs in Spain?
Yes. EU citizens can work freely, and almost all jobs on our board are in English. Non-EU citizens need a permit, usually the Highly Qualified Professional permit or EU Blue Card, which needs a job offer paying at least €41,356.36 a year in most cases. Only 2% of ads mention sponsorship, so target the companies that do.
What is the average salary for a software engineer in Spain?
It depends on the source. Levels.fyi showed a self-reported median total compensation of €55,411 on 16 October 2026. The median posted salary on our board was €74,500 across all tech roles and €86,500 for backend roles. The INE’s official average for the whole information and communications sector was €42,741.94 in 2024.
Where are most tech jobs in Spain?
In Barcelona and Madrid. In our October 2026 report, Barcelona had 768 jobs (30%) and Madrid 693 (27%). Valencia and Málaga had 78 and 74. About a third of all jobs were fully remote, so you can also work for many of these employers from elsewhere in Spain.
How many tech workers are there in Spain?
Eurostat counted just over 1 million ICT specialists in employment in Spain in 2025, 10.2% of the EU total. Across the EU, ICT specialists were 5.0% of all employment. About 206,800 of Spain’s ICT specialists were women.
Board figures describe the jobs on Spain Dev Jobs, not the whole Spanish job market. Visa rules and thresholds change; this guide isn’t legal advice, so check the official sources linked above.