Spanish residents, their political party preferences and attitudes towards key Ukraine policies
In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion into Ukraine, profoundly altering EU policies and politics. The European Union and its member states have strongly supported Ukraine in its defence.
Spain ranks among those countries demonstrating the highest level of unconditional support for Ukraine, advocating for a unified EU response to the war. This strong support from the Spanish population likely stems from the government’s commitment to European integration, a cornerstone of its internal strategy aimed at consolidating its relatively young democracy. This strategic approach has not only facilitated economic and social modernisation but has also enabled Spain to align itself with the most advanced Western European countries.
Moreover, Spain has experienced comparatively fewer repercussions from the war on several fronts: Unlike other EU Member States – Spain boasts a more diversified array of gas sources, primarily from Algeria and the United States – thereby reducing its reliance on Russian gas. Also, the war has had a relatively limited impact on inflation in Spain, which is largely attributed to policy measures implemented by the left-leaning coalition government. These measures include capping energy prices, reducing the value-added tax on essential food items to zero, lowering public transport costs and imposing taxes on excessive profits.
Against the backdrop of the upcoming European parliamentary elections, this report focuses on the correlation in Spain between individuals’ political party preferences and their stance on seven key Ukraine-related policy issues:
1. Does the European Union need a common defence policy?
2. Should the EU support Ukraine by delivering weapons?
3. Should your country accept refugees from Ukraine?
4. Should the EU accept Ukraine as a member state in the coming years?
5. Should the EU become more energy independent of Russia even if that means prices are rising even further?
6. Do you think economic and financial sanctions on Russia are effective or ineffective?
7. Do you think the reconstruction of Ukraine will be an economic opportunity or an economic burden for the EU?
For each question, we provide an overview of the general distribution in Spain, followed by a breakdown according to political party preferences. These findings stem from a survey conducted in December 2023, encompassing nearly 13,000 EU citizens. Our dataset is representative of the EU as a whole and, more specifically, of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain. In Spain, we interviewed 1,126 citizens.
Please note
This report “Spain, the War and the Vote” is part of an eight-part series.
Part 1
explores the relationship between political orientation and support for Ukraine-related policies across the EU and in seven member states.
Parts 2-8
Part 1 is complemented by seven country reports, each examining the correlation between political party preferences and the same set of Ukraine-related questions:
An overview:
1. Which political party – if any – do you feel close to?
General distribution (GD) in Spain
2. Does the European Union need a common defence policy?
GD in Spain and by political party preferences
3. Should the EU support Ukraine by delivering weapons?
GD in Spain and by political party preferences
4. Should your country accept refugees from Ukraine?
GD in Spain and by political party preferences
5. Should the EU accept Ukraine as a member state in the coming years?
GD in Spain and by political party preferences
6. Should the EU become more energy independent of Russia even if that means prices are rising even further?
GD in Spain and by political party preferences
7. Do you think economic and financial sanctions on Russia are effective or ineffective?
GD in Spain and by political party preferences
8. Do you think the reconstruction of Ukraine will be an economic opportunity or an economic burden for the EU?
GD in Spain and by political party preferences
Conclusions
As EU citizens prepare for the upcoming European Parliament elections in June, closely followed by the nomination of a new European Commission, our aim in this country report was to assess public sentiment and explore more deeply how Ukraine-related policies intersect with party preferences in Spain.
In summary, our findings are as follows:
- Support for Ukraine policies is stronger among left-leaning individuals compared to those on the right.
- Support tends to be higher in the political centre than on either end of the political spectrum.
- Overall, support tends to be strongest among those aligned with PSOE.
- Overall support is weakest among those aligned with VOX.
An analysis of each graph shows the following patterns:
- European Defence Policy: Support for the concept of a common European defence policy is robust across all subgroups, with more than 90% of those aligned with the PP, PSOE and Sumar endorsing it. Even among those who back VOX, support is still high at 86%. However, while there is vast agreement on the concept, individuals across different political affiliations may disagree on the specifics of what a common defence policy should entail.
- Weapons Delivery: The highest support for weapons delivery comes from those backing the PSOE (71%) and PP (70%). It is lowest among those aligned with Sumar (50%), followed by those who favour VOX (56%).
- Refugee Acceptance: Support for accepting Ukrainian refugees is highest among backers of the Sumar (93%) and PSOE (90%) parties. It is lowest among VOX (63%) supporters.
- EU Membership for Ukraine: While support for Ukraine’s EU membership has waned in most European countries, it remains strong in Spain. Backers of the PSOE (88%) and PP (83%) parties express the highest levels of support, whereas those aligned with VOX (73%) exhibit the lowest.
- Energy Independence: Support for energy independence is very strong in Spain, with minimal differences between supporters of various political parties. Those affiliated with Sumar and PP (both 77%) express the strongest support, followed by those aligned with VOX (75%) and the PSOE (71%).
- Effectiveness of Sanctions: A majority of Spaniards view economic and financial sanctions on Russia as ineffective (57%). This belief is most pronounced among supporters of Sumar and VOX (both 62%), with PP supporters closely behind (61%). Supporters of PSOE are most optimistic with only 47% believing that the sanctions are ineffective.
- Reconstruction of Ukraine: A majority of Spaniards believe that the reconstruction of Ukraine will pose an economic burden. This belief is particularly relevant among supporters of VOX (66%). Supporters of PSOE (50%) and PP (51%) are divided on the issue. In contrast, those aligned with Sumar view it more as an opportunity (63%) than a burden (37%).
About eupinions
eupinions is an independent platform for European public opinion. We collect and analyse data on European public opinion and comment on what Europeans think about current political issues and megatrends.
Every quarter, we collect samples from each EU member state in 22 languages. Our data is representative with regard to age, gender, education and country/region.
eupinions is a Bertelsmann Stiftung project. The data is collected by Latana.
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Methodology note
The samples analysed in this report were drawn by Latana in December 2023 (n=13,299) across all 27 EU member states. Our samples take into account current population distributions with regard to age (16-70 years), gender and region/country. In order to obtain census representative results, the data were weighted using the most recent Eurostat statistics.
Any references to differences between countries in the report pertain only to the seven countries with sufficiently large sample sizes: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain.
Given the sample size and design-effect considerations, the margin of error is 0.9% at a confidence level of 95%.