Today in Spain: A roundup of the latest news on Friday

Spain has 22 million people in work for first time

Spanish unemployment retreated to its lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis in the second quarter of this year as service sector hiring boomed, official data showed on Thursday.

The jobless rate in one of the world's most dynamic developed economies was 10.29 percent at the end of June, down 1.07 percentage points on the previous quarter, the National Statistics Institute said.

The service sector, which includes the vital tourism industry that accounts for around 12 percent of jobs in the European Union's fourth-largest economy, contributed the bulk of the reduction.

Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo celebrated reaching the figure of more than 22 million people in work for the first time, saying on X that nine out of every 10 new jobs came from the private sector.

Spain's economy has been outperforming its peers, recording 3.2 percent growth in 2024 compared with a one-percent EU average, but its unemployment figures are the highest in the 27-nation bloc.

Cuerpo has targeted bringing it down to around eight percent by the end of the leftist government's term in 2027, which he says corresponds to full employment.

Spanish PM welcomes French recognition of State of Palestine

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Thursday welcomed France's decision to join Spain in recognising the State of Palestine, saying it would "protect" a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Together, we must protect what (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is trying to destroy.

The two-state solution is the only solution," the Socialist leader, an outspoken critic of Israel's offensive in Gaza, wrote on X.

Rents in 2024 increased three times faster than wages in Spain

The average salary paid by companies in 2024 rose to €27,559 gross, 3.8 percent more than the previous year, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) , while rents increased to €13,025 per square metre on average, 11.56 percent more than the 2023 figure, according to calculations based on the Idealista real estate website database.

Therefore, the rise in rental prices in Spain more than tripled the rate of increase in salaries.

The gap between the two variables is growing wider and increasing the efforts of households to meet the cost of rent, despite the increase in the average salary paid by employers in Spain.

News of 'Magaluf flu' reaches Spanish press

The British tabloids have recently been reporting that many young revellers returning from Magaluf in Mallorca are apparently experiencing flu-like symptoms which last up to two weeks.

Dubbed 'Magaluf flu' or 'Magaflu', according to the Balearic health service IB-Salut, it is no different from the regular flu.

The president of the Official College of Physicians of the Balearic Islands, Carles Recasens has also said that "alarmism should be left out" and that "despite all these TikTok videos and ads, we are talking about a simple cold, a virus".

With additional reporting by AFP.