Alex Trelinski
THE regular monthly 40dB barometer public opinion survey conducted for the El Pais newspaper and SER radio puts inflation as the biggest concern for people living in Spain.
The April study showed that 70.5% of respondents said it worries them ‘a great deal’ and 24.3%, ‘a lot’.
The annual inflation rate rebounded to 4.1% last month- 0.8% higher than in March, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
Food inflation is far higher, with concerns that the current drought will make some foods even more expensive.
After inflation, the second place in the ranking of concerns of Spaniards is occupied by social inequalities (they worry a great deal or a lot at 88%); followed by the cost of housing(85.5%) and unemployment(85%).
Climate change ranks fifth (79.7%); the war in Ukraine is sixth (75.5%); and immigration in seventh place (62.7%).
Asked which political parties they think can best face each of these problems, the PSOE leads over tacking issues related to the price of housing (20.7%), social inequalities (20.6%), climate change (19.4%) and the consequences of the war in Ukraine (21.9%).
The PP receives the confidence of more respondents to deal with inflation (22.5%) and unemployment (23.5%).
Vox prevails among those who see immigration as a problem (21.5%).
However, a high percentage of Spaniards believe that ‘no’ party is better than another to solve these problems:
In the case of inflation, 21%; in housing, 20.4% (only three tenths less than those who support the PSOE).
The option of ‘none’ is the majority, moreover, when asked which party is the best to face the consequences of the war in Ukraine and climate change.
As for the economic situation of Spaniards, only 5.3% declare to be able to ‘save a lot of money every month’.
The majority group (40.2%) say they save ‘little’; 33.7% claim to make some ‘fair’ savings, and 17.5% remain in a delicate economic situation:
10.5% have had to ‘dip into savings’ to meet daily expenses and 7% have been forced to take on debt.
