James Warren
THE handling of the coronavirus outbreak by the newly formed coalition government of Spain has gone some way to softening the public’s opinion of the leadership after the debacle of the 2019 elections.
The entire country is on lockdown with travel restrictions, self quarantine and police sanctions for breaking the rules, with the Spanish government apparently coming down hard on preventing the virus spreading rather than a calmer response similar to that of the UK or US.
While many residents are finding ways to entertain themselves under the
15-day quarantine, according to a survey by Investigating Agency 40db for El Pais, 36% of the population stand by the government’s handling of the situation.
While the figure may still be low, experts are suggesting that the number is encouraging after public opinion of Spanish politics reached an all time low towards the end of 2019.
While the figures are encouraging, the results of the survey are also strongly linked to voting patterns.
PSOE and Partido Popular voters continue to hold a more positive outlook on the crisis while more right leaning voters strongly disagree with the handling of the situation.
The Ciudadanos party voters have been the most scathing of Pedro Sanchez’s plans, with over 50% of the 1,400 people surveyed showing strong concerns over the situation.
The survey also showed strong support for local governments with 41% of voters saying that town councils are handling the situation very well.
The startling theme of the survey does however show the overall fear that many people have of their economic and employment statuses once the pandemic has eased.
Many workers have been temporarily laid off during the crisis and nationwide will lose millions of euros whilst they are out of employment.
A total of 36% of people are concerned that their employer will not survive the crisis, with economic experts fearing that the number of permanently unemployed will skyrocket once the country begins to come out of the other side.
The full 40db survey results can be found here.
