Over 70% in Spain think state is not going in right direction, says EU poll

Some 71% of citizens in Spain think that the state is not going in the right direction, according to an opinion poll carried out by the European Parliament in October.

Spain is also one of the European Union's member states with the bleakest outlook on its political future, along with Hungary, the survey concludes.

The study also finds that some 56% of those surveyed are unhappy with how democracy in Spain works, although that is an improvement on the 60% registered in 2018.

Yet, in terms of the perceptions of how democracy works, Spain remains at the back of the queue in the EU, behind Greece, Hungary, Romania and Italy. 

Perceptions of democracy in EU

Along with those surveyed in the UK, Italy and Greece, people in Spain also express the least satisfaction with how democracy works in the EU as a whole.

At the same time, the poll finds the largest rise in support for democracy in the EU among people in Spain, along with those in Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic. 

The report links the results with Spain's "uncertain political climate," and mentions the "protests in Barcelona after the Supreme Court convicted nine Catalan separatist leaders."

The findings also suggest that people in Spain are the least interested in the activities of EU institutions, with over a third uninterested in receiving information about this aspect.