Charlie Smith
ALMOST half of Spaniards want to get rid of their monarchy, a new questionnaire has found.
A YouGov poll for the Huffington Post found that 48% of Spain favours a republic compared to just 35% who want to keep the royal family.
As Spain celebrated 40 years of its constitution on Thursday, the study also revealed that a majority of Spaniards would like a vote on the future of the monarchy.
The other 17% chose not to comment on proposed changes to the first article of the Spanish constitution, which says a parliamentary monarchy is ‘the political form of the Spanish State’.
The poll of 1,002 people was conducted between November 2 and 5.
Spain’s young were the most vehement in their support of a republic, with 59% of 18-24-year-olds saying ‘no’ to King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia.
Felipe had initially restored some credibility to Spanish royalty, following the abdication of his father Juan Carlos I in 2014.
However, since the bearded king expressed negative views about a Catalunyan independence challenge, his popularity appeared to dwindle somewhat.
It is no surprise therefore that the same YouGov poll found that 64% in Spain’s northeastern region voted for a republic.
As a couple though, the Spanish royals are still popular and Letizia is frequently lauded in the media for her stylistic and youthful appearance, relative to other queens.
