A giant paella being cooked in Regent Street as part of Spanish promotional campaign.

A giant paella being cooked in Regent Street as part of Spanish promotional campaign.

01/09/2013 00:00
TW
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Palma.—The United Kingdom saw a 50 percent jump in the number of Spaniards signing on to its national insurance (NI) scheme from March 2012 to 2013, the latest figures from the UK’s Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) reveal.

A total of 45,530 Spaniards joined the scheme which is a prerequisite for accessing the UK’s labour market, and welfare and health systems.

That was up from a little over 30,000 a year earlier.

The rise also means Spaniards were the second largest group of new NI scheme members after the Poles. And it is not just the Spaniards who are flocking to the UK. There have also been increases of up to 50 percent in migration to Britain from Greece, Italy and Portugal, according to official figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).