Only 19.6% of Spanish employees telework regularly, even though 37.7% of firms allow it

Spain’s National Statistics Institute has published definitive figures for the first quarter of 2026. 37.7% of firms with 10 or more employees allow telework, but only 19.6% of employees actually telework regularly, averaging 2.4 days a week. The gap between permission and practice is the headline.

Company size drives almost everything. Among firms with 250 or more employees, 77.3% allow telework. Among firms with 10 to 49, that falls to 32.6%. And among firms with fewer than 10 employees that have an internet connection, only 25.1% allow it at all.

Why this matters. If you are looking for remote work in Spain, these numbers tell you where to look. The large-employer figure of 77.3% is the one quoted in most coverage, and it describes a part of the market that most Spanish workers are not in, because Spain’s economy is overwhelmingly made up of small firms. Targeting employers with 250+ staff roughly doubles your odds compared with the national average, and targeting firms under 10 roughly halves them.

Location matters nearly as much. Regional breakdowns of the same release put Madrid at 52% of firms and Catalonia at 44%, while in Aragón only 10.2% of workers actually work remotely against about 19% nationally. If you have flexibility about where in Spain you live, the regional spread is wide enough to change your prospects, and it is wider than the national average suggests. For the practical side of working for yourself in Spain, see our autónomo guide.