\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEven as the lights dim at the European Pulse Forum in Barcelona, the data on the table depicts a Spain that has chosen to rely on Brussels. European Pulse is an initiative promoted by POLITICO Europe and the beBartlet consultancy, created with the aim of using European public opinion data as a compass for structuring debates at the highest level on security, energy, mobility, and competitiveness. For its initial survey, 6,698 people were interviewed in six countries of the European Union.<\/p>\n
In a year marked by global uncertainty, Spain isn’t just one of the most pro-European countries in the survey sample; it’s also among those who expect the most from the Union because it is also among those countries with the lowest trust in its own strengths.<\/p>\n
Beneath a long tradition of alignment with European values lies a personal pessimism that could serve as the fuse for the next crisis of governance in southern Europe.<\/p>\n
Fortress Europe, and Spain as a point of support for autonomy
\nAlthough the concept of strategic autonomy was a dream born in France, today it has become a widespread conviction in Spain. On that point, 94.1% of Spaniards insist that the EU should be self-sufficient \u2013 more than all the other countries surveyed by POLITICO and beBartlet. For Spain, autonomy is a matter of survival, in terms of both energy and industry.<\/p>\n
“Spanish citizens understand that on the chessboard of 2026, where China and the U.S. play by their own rules, to be small is to be irrelevant”Support for the creation of “European champions” in the energy sector (96.4%) is almost unanimous, although that figure is even higher in Belgium, at 97%. This could be interpreted as evidence that Spanish citizens understand that on the chessboard of 2026, where China and the U.S. play by their own rules, to be small is to be irrelevant.<\/p>\n
The fear factor, and goodbye to the “American dream”
\nIf anything has changed in the Spanish geopolitical psyche across recent months, it’s the perception of Washington. While Poland still looks across the Atlantic with certain confidence (57.8% of Poles still consider the U.S. an ally or partner), Spain leads the bloc of skeptics.<\/p>\n
In contrast, 67.4% of Spaniards now classify the U.S. as a competitor or threat. This is crucial to understanding why Spain \u2013 traditionally reluctant to spend militarily \u2013 now embraces the idea of a joint European military force (77%). Far from a warmongering stance, this position is a logical conclusion for those who feel isolated in the Southern Neighborhood.<\/p>\n
The “Glass Wall” of personal pessimism
\nTurning to personal expectations, the analysis reveals some bitterness toward Spain’s own government as well as Brussels. Spain is living a contradiction worth highlighting: its citizens love the Union, but their view of the future at home is less than clear.<\/p>\n
“For the average Spaniard, the EU is a shield against disaster but not an engine of success”Only 39% of Spaniards are optimistic about their personal future, compared to 70% in Poland. That gap is very significant for European cohesion. The East feels like the new driving force of the continent, while the South (with Italy and France in the background, and Spain still far behind Germany and especially Poland) lingers in a state of persistent pessimism. For the average Spaniard, the EU is a shield against disaster but not an engine of success.<\/p>\n
The green transition will not be televised, but it will be paid for
\nIn the survey \u2013 fieldwork for which was carried out by Cluster17 \u2013 Spain debunks one of Brussels’ great myths: social consensus around the 2035 end-date for sales of new petrol- and diesel-fueled autos. While 59.4% of Spaniards oppose that measure, 68.1% support larger investments in public transport. As such, Spain seems to embrace sustainability only when it is considered socially fair and technologically viable. The green transition isn’t rejected, but instruments are rejected when perceived to be inaccessible.<\/p>\n
Housing is Europe’s new battlefield
\nSpaniards rank public housing as the main priority (66.9%) over other redistributive policies. Although this might be the twentieth warning, it should be taken as a definitive sign that the European social contract is being broken by bricks and mortar. Brussels needs to speed legislation and financing of housing solutions. If citizens see no response, their sense of belonging to the “European way of life” (still currently high, at 81%) will start to erode. In other words, people can’t defend a lifestyle that they can’t afford.<\/p>\n
Leadership by necessity
\nSpain is approaching the halfway point of 2026 as one of the most diligent students in the European class. However, the country appears to study not from ambition, nor in hopes of joint improvement, but out of persistent anxiety.<\/p>\n
“If that protection fails to translate into individual optimism and tangible improvements in quality of life, then Europeanism in Spain will cease to be the pillar of stability that it is today”Spanish leadership in Brussels is today both necessary and solid, but its balance is precarious: handing over industrial and energy sovereignty in exchange for collective protection. If that protection fails to translate into individual optimism and tangible improvements in quality of life \u2013 housing, energy, mobility \u2013 then Europeanism in Spain will cease to be the pillar of stability that it is today<\/a>.<\/p>\n The success of the Union over the next two years won’t be measured only by the number of strong defense treaties, but by increases in personal optimism in Madrid, Paris, and Rome. Otherwise, Poland will remain the only country in the sample that combines symbolic approval for the EU with clear majorities expressing personal optimism. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even as the lights dim at the European Pulse Forum in Barcelona, the data on the table depicts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11569,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[4760,4759,18,7914,2845,7370,7915,7916,7917,7918,7919],"class_list":["post-11568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brussels","tag-agenda-publica","tag-agenda-publica-in-english","tag-brussels","tag-encuestas","tag-espana","tag-europa","tag-inteligencia-artificial","tag-partidos-politicos","tag-polarizacion","tag-union-europea","tag-vivienda"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/116408432299045437","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}