Spaniards prefer China to the US, polling shows

New survey data has lifted the lid on Spanish public opinion, with some surprising (and not so surprising) results on issues ranging from Trump and Ukraine to Nato and Gaza.

Spaniards are increasingly more sympathetic towards China than the United States, new polling data has revealed.

This was one finding in the latest edition of the Real Instituto Elcano Barometer on public opinion. The survey provides interesting reading across a range of other themes including Ukraine, Palestine and defence spending.

The Real Elcano, Spain’s most prestigious think tank, undertook 1,000 interviews across Spain’s regions with participants aged 18 to 80 and from a broad spread of political opinion.

The headline grabbing finding is that President Trump received a rating of 2.5 out of 10, lower even than that of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who scored 3.7 percent. Support for the United States over China more generally has fallen dramatically among Spaniards, from 35 percent to 11 percent.

The rejection of Trump and his perceived negative impact on the world also shows through in the data. Sixty-one percent of respondents believed that Trump’s second term will have a “negative influence” on Spain, especially with regard to the trade war and his tariff policy.

The feeling that the US could directly pose a threat to Spain has risen to 19 percent, although interestingly Morocco continues to be perceived as the most destabilising external factor by Spaniards.

Just over half of those interviewed (54 percent) believed that democracy is in danger in Western Europe, compared to 46 percent who don't see it as being at risk. Fourteen percent said far-right forces were the biggest danger to democracy.

Most Spaniards polled believed that there is no risk to the EU in forging closer ties with China. However, more than a third of those interviewed did see a danger of some sort, mostly because of a fear of reprisals from the US or due to developing an excessive dependence on China.

Support for remaining Nato is still very high in Spain, at 85 percent, and 57 percent of Spaniards believe that Europe should invest more in defence. Opinion was split when the question refers to Spanish defence spending specifically, with respondents indicating that an increase could lead to a reduction in other public spending.

Spain's Socialist Prime Minister and his government have openly questioned the necessity for Spain to meet Trump's demand for 5 percent of GDP spending to be on defence. The worry among Spaniards that an increase in defence spending would mean cuts to welfare spending is an argument Sánchez has reflected internationally and made himself.

The polling also found that support for increasing defence spending was much higher among right-wing respondents than on the left, while those in the centre were divided almost equally.

Spain’s left-leaning position on Palestine was also reflected in the data.

The classification of Israel's actions in Gaza as ‘genocide’ has increased substantially (82 percent now classify it as such) while support for European states to recognise the Palestine state remains at 78 percent. Spain did this back in May 2024 when, along with Ireland and Norway, it formally recognised a Palestinian state.

Support for Israel among Spaniards continues to decrease, falling from 28 percent to 23 percent.

IN DEPTH: Why does Spain support Palestine?

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