Madrid.The Centre for Sociological Investigation (CIS) confirmed yesterday that 64.5 percent of people in the Islands believe that the current economic situation is either bad or v ery bad .
The CIS survey was carried out between 27th May and 1st July this year to probe post-regional election public opinion. Just under 600 people took part in the interviews.
When asked what did they think that the new government's priority should be 74.4 percent said that job creation had to be their first task and 13.6 percent said that restructuring the regional education system was or prime importance. Meanwhile, the Health service was a top issue for 5.4 percent of those inverviewed.
Lower priorities
Immigration, which in past surveys had been a major concern to interviewees in the Balearics, came low on the agenda on this occasion with just 2 percent of people claiming that it should be a government priority.
Even less were overtly concerned with housing policy as a mere 1.2 percent said it required urgent government attention.
It was clear from the survey that residents in the Balearics are aware that the region is inneed of an economic rescue package. Apart from just under 65 percent describing the economy as bad or very bad, a further 29.6 percent categorised it as not very good whilst under 5 percent claimed it was good.
The Balearic scenario is echoed at a national level as the CIS revealed yesterday that across the nation as a whole, 75.5 percent agree that the economy is in dire straits, 22.1 percent believe it is not very good and just 1.2 percent say it is good.
Political assessment
The CIS survey also covered an overview of how people see the current political situation in the Balearic Islands at the moment, as opposed to specifically the economy.
Even with the change of government after regional elections in May this year, 58.3 percent of those interviewed described the political arena as bad or very bad, 28.5 percent defined it as not so good and just 4.4 percent thought it to be good. Opinion was not that much different at a national level, said the CIS, with 68.2 percent of interviewees saying the political situation was bad or very bad, 23.3 percent claimed it was not so good and just 2.2 percent said they felt it was good. The Balearic Islands also showed itself through the survey to be largely disillusioned with the performance of the last regional government, with 79.7 percent convinced that the Socialist Coalition team had managed badly or very badly, 15.7 percent said it had not been so good and 1.7 percent said they had been satisfied.