The image that the Spanish have of politics and politicians is disastrous.
90% of citizens “mistrust” political parties;
78% harbor the same sentiment of the Congress of Deputies, and 73% are suspicious of the Government, according to the winter Eurobarometer for Spain released this Thursday, the day after Vox's failed motion of no confidence in the Government, with the almost nonagenarian Ramón Tamames as candidate.
In whom Spaniards believe the most is health and medical personnel, the safest value for 87% of those surveyed (1,011 in Spain, of the 37,803 surveyed throughout the EU, in the months of January and February).
If the disaffection towards politics in Spain is rampant, the detachment towards the media is among the largest in Europe: 70% tend to be suspicious of the press,
while the vast majority see fake news everywhere.
The distrust of citizens towards the institutions is well above the European average.
The so-called Standard Eurobarometer is carried out annually at the request of the Directorate General for Communication of the European Commission.
The field work this year was carried out by the company Kantar Public, between January 12 and February 6, with inflation at its highest, the war in Ukraine unbridled and in full controversy over the sentence reductions as a consequence of the
law of only yes is yes.
The survey is based on knowing the confidence in the institutions, and on knowing the state of mind of Europeans with respect to the war that is taking place on European soil and the economic and military support of the Union.
82% are in favor of providing more financial support to Ukraine.
Eurobarometer
In the Spanish case, the increase in mistrust towards the executive and legislative powers stands out, as well as greater confidence in judges, mayors and in the European Union.
Thus, the institutions that generate the greatest degree of suspicion for Spaniards are, in this order: political parties (only 7% of Spaniards trust them, compared to 90% who do not), the Congress of Deputies (which gives security at 16%, compared to 78% who are uneasy) and the Government of Spain (of the three, the one that generates the most confidence: 24% trust it compared to 73% who do not).
In fact, they don't trust any of the institutions they question, but at least they "project more trust," as the study authors write.
More information
Mañueco's comb to a PSOE parliamentarian in the Cortes twitches politics in Castilla y León
Of the political institutions, it is the local and regional authorities, that is, mayors and regional presidents, that are closest to the balance (with 47% trusting and 48% not).
Justice and the judicial system are the most trustworthy for 46% (51% do not see it that way), while the EU is the institution to cling to for 45% (with 47%, it is the one that generates the least mistrust ).
In general, Spain does not differ much from what its European neighbors think (also the parties and their respective parliaments are among the least valued), but the degrees of institutional disaffection are well above the Union average.
⚠️Disinformation and #fakenews:
🔹86% of Spaniards 🇪🇸 believe that fake news is a problem for democracy in general.
🔹61% of European citizens 🇪🇺 state that it is easy for them to spot this type of fake news.#Eurobarometer pic.twitter.com/GRDeTi4Okl
– European Commission (@ComisionEuropea) March 23, 2023
The other great pole of disaffection is the press, which 70% mistrust, although at least 68% agree that "the information on political affairs obtained from social networks is not reliable."
Europeans also distrust the majority, although to a lesser extent than Spaniards (58% of European citizens who distrust compared to 38% who trust).
What happens to those surveyed, or to the majority, is that they "often" find news "that distorts reality and is even false", hoaxes that are easy to identify for 55% (but not for the majority). 41%).
Fake news is "a problem" for Spain for 83% and even 86% say that it poses a risk to democracy.