Data on Social Security affiliation and unemployment published this Monday reveal a clear evolution of self-employment in the Comunitat Valenciana. UPTA PV, the Union of Professionals and Self-Employed Workers, has emphasized that this trend indicates a structural shift towards a more qualified model, where professions linked to knowledge and professional services are gaining ground.
The month of March concluded with a positive balance in affiliation to the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (RETA). This growth has primarily concentrated in higher value-added activities. Notably, Hospitality saw 475 new self-employed individuals, reaching 40,118 affiliates, and Professional, Scientific, and Technical Activities added 298 new self-employed, reaching 41,520 affiliates. These two sectors are consolidating as the main drivers of RETA in the region.
Other sectors that also showed favorable evolution include Construction, with 142 new affiliates (totaling 68,675), Health and Social Services Activities, with an additional 46 affiliates (up to 16,017), and Education, which grew by 56 self-employed individuals (reaching 12,670).
In contrast, traditional sectors continue to show negative performance. Transport registered a decrease of 65 self-employed (down to 22,030), Manufacturing Industry also saw a decline of 59 affiliates (to 23,667), Commerce lost 25 affiliates in March (standing at 77,997), and Agriculture decreased by 23 affiliates (to 12,590).
“"The reality of self-employment in Spain is changing: there are increasingly more highly qualified professionals opting for self-employment. A transformation that reflects talent, innovation, and new ways of working. We are witnessing the consolidation of a new model of self-employment that is more specialized and has greater added value. However, this change also highlights the structural problems of traditional sectors, where the lack of generational replacement threatens their continuity."
For UPTA PV, this dynamic highlights a growing structural problem: the lack of generational replacement in traditional sectors. The aging of the self-employed population and the low incorporation of young people are causing a progressive loss of activity in these areas.
