How much "confidence" do Spaniards think that Pedro Sánchez's policy to combat the coronavirus crisis deserves? A special survey by Spain's publically-owned CIS polling agency, released on Wednesday, sheds some light on that question. There are more detractors than supporters. A total of 47.8% of respondents reject the Spanish government's management of the crisis, while 45.6% approve of it. The survey, conducted between March 30th and April 7th, was carried out exclusively by telephone and involved 3,000 interviews.
Thus, when asked about "the current Spanish government's policies against Covid-19 as a whole," the dominant response was mistrust. On the one hand, 29.8% of respondents said the Sánchez policies "deserve very little confidence" and 18% said they "don't deserve any confidence". On the other hand, 10.5% of Spaniards said the government's efforts "deserve a lot of confidence" and 36% opted for "deserve some confidence". In the middle, a relatively small group - 4.8% - who were neither for nor against, terming the coalition government's management as "fair".
The pandemic has also exacted a price on prime minister Sánchez in terms of his personal standing amongst the Spanish public. Sixty per cent of respondents say they do not trust him. Specifically, 31.9% have "little confidence" and 28.1% have "no confidence" in the PM. On the other hand, 39% still trust the Spanish leader: 7.4% have "a lot of confidence" and 31.6% "a fair amount of confidence" in him.
The reality, however, is that the Spaniards don't trust an alternative government either. When asked about a hypothetical Spanish government led by the opposition leader, Pablo Casado, respondents were just as pessimistic or even more so. Asked whether an opposition government would do better or worse, 46.6% answered "practically the same". Those who believed a Casado government would do "a little worse" or "much worse" made up 22.9%. Only 18.5% thought that PP-led government would do "a little better" or "much better".
Unity among politicians
At a time when the Spanish government is calling on its political opponents to come together around its plan for new "Moncloa pacts", the survey respondents also demanded unity from political leaders. A full 87.8% of Spaniards say they "believe that the Spanish government must be supported now and that criticism should be left for some other time." In contrast, only 10% of people polled "believe that any criticism that people deem appropriate" should be voiced. In the same vein, 91.4% say that at present it is "better to try forge broad agreements" among all parties.
Wuhan-style lockdown
Eighty-seven per cent of Spaniards consider the lockdown measures adopted in Spain “necessary” or “very necessary”. On the other hand, 58.3% consider that the measures taken are sufficient, while 39.1% think they should be "stricter". However, the poll also showed support for a model like that in Wuhan, where people are not to allowed to go out at all and where medicines and foods are distributed by specialized workers. Up to 57.7% said they'd support such a move, while 38.6% would oppose it.
Pro-centralization
Asked if, "right now, it is the Spanish government that should be taking steps to combat Covid-19," or whether, alternatively, Spain's autonomous community governments should be doing it, a large majority of respondents (73.3%) considered that it was the central executive's responsibility, while 20.7% said it should be left to the autonomous communities. As for the economic and employment consequences of the pandemic, 80.3% think they will be "very serious" and 17% "quite serious".
Asked whether "the information provided by the Spanish government and those responsible for the Covid-19 issue is sufficient", 43.4% said yes, that the information they had received was sufficient. However, more than half of respondents (54.5%) wanted "to have more information" about the pandemic.
The good news
The CIS special survey also showed a certain level of popular optimism. Regarding the "chances of winning this battle" against the virus, 35.3% said they were "very optimistic" and 51.2% are "quite optimistic". Only 16.4% are "not optimistic" and 2.2% "not at all optimistic". The vast majority (91%) of Spaniards said they were handling lockdown "very well" or "reasonably well".