Spanish public opinion reflects higher levels of awareness than the European average regarding the main global threats. This is clear from the survey and statistical analysis of Spain in the face of the three main challenges the world is currently facing: climate change, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the aftermath of the pandemic.
Worry about the weather
The Spanish have been reflecting a high environmental sensitivity for decades, according to the CIS. Certainly, an exceptionally hot and dry summer has intensified public concern about the effects of climate change. But an Ipsos poll carried out in mid-July already revealed greater concern among Spaniards about climate disturbances: 71% considered the effects caused by global warming "serious", while that percentage dropped to 56% between set of Europeans.
However, this environmental awareness –and contrary to what the mistreatment of the landscape of a large part of the Spanish territory might suggest– has not only emerged when the evidence on climate change has been irrefutable. In 1992, more than three decades ago, 71% of Spaniards were already "very or quite concerned" about the climate. And that percentage has not stopped growing since then: it exceeded 76% four years later, and exceeded 85% in 2009.
The most recent records have consolidated a level of concern around 80% of those consulted, which implies a certain stabilization in its growth, probably motivated by the irruption of denialist movements linked to far-right populism. But even so, Spanish and Portuguese are the most concerned about climate change, as confirmed by the European Social Survey.
Ukraine: war returns to Europe
The Russian invasion of the Ukraine, which very few were able to anticipate, caused great concern in Spain despite the enormous distance that separates the Iberian Peninsula from the war front. In fact, according to an Ipsos poll carried out last spring, Spanish public opinion (74%) was five points above the European average (69%) when it came to considering Russian aggression as its own problem and in the that it should intervene.
Moreover, according to the same survey, which included Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Poland, the Spanish (23%) even appeared among those most willing to send troops in support of Ukraine, a rate that fell to 17% among the rest of Europeans.
However, just as relevant as that initial and proactive reaction of Spanish public opinion is the relative stability that shows its level of concern regarding the conflict in Ukraine. The Spaniards maintain a high perception of the danger that this war entails, without a noticeable decrease having been registered as the months passed and the conflict became entrenched.
Last March, at the start of the attack, 86% of those consulted by the CIS were very or quite concerned about the Russian invasion. The figure was reduced to 71% in September, but since then it has not fallen below that percentage.
And, furthermore, the reading that the Spanish have made of Vladimir Putin's strategy has barely changed. In March, 75% saw it as possible that Russia would end up invading other Eastern countries, and in September that percentage remained above 70%.
Goodbye to the coronavirus?
With vaccination rates of over 85% –ahead of Germany, the United Kingdom, France or Japan–, Spain exhibits a balanced mixture of efficacy in its health system and civic awareness regarding the preventive nature of vaccines. From there, concern (a lot or a lot) about covid-19 has fallen from 97%, in May 2020, to 55% in January 2023 (despite the rebound caused by the health crisis in China).
And although almost 80% consider that “the worst is over”, a reasonable level of concern persists, given the general evolution of the pandemic in the rest of the world.
Spanish society began to see the light at the end of the tunnel from April 2021, when more than 50% of citizens considered that "the worst is over." Vaccination had begun on December 27, 2020, but already in March 2021, less than three months later, the percentage of Spaniards who were optimistic went from 17% to 45%.
