Almost seven out of ten Spaniards (67%) disapprove of Donald Trump’s administration and 39% view US-Spain relations as ‘bad,’ according to the ‘IV Annual Report on the Image of the United States in Spain’ by the Franklin Institute at the University of Alcalá. This study is conducted annually to measure Spanish society’s perception of the United States and covers aspects such as the evolution of Spanish opinion on the United States, especially after Donald Trump’s election victory, and the degree of knowledge about Spain’s contribution to the birth of the United States ahead of the 250th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence.
According to its conclusions, Spanish public opinion narrowly approves (5.3) of the United States, with young people being the segment that views the US most positively, as 49% of those surveyed say they have a positive view of the country. The Spaniards who rate their image of the United States most highly are voters for right-wing parties, led by a score of 7.2 among far right Vox voters, followed by 6.5 among centre right PP voters.
In the last five years, the image of the United States has worsened overall for 64% of respondents, with the exception of 45% of Vox voters, for whom it has strengthened since 2020. According to respondents, this deterioration is mainly due to the Trump administration’s immigration (62%), tariff (58%) and international (51%) policies.
According to this study, 67% of respondents are unfavourable towards Donald Trump’s presidency and only 17% consider it positive. The aspects that Spaniards disapprove of most are foreign trade policy (78% consider it misguided) and the position on the Israel-Palestine conflict (69% disapprove). In addition, 51% of Spaniards disagree with the increase in NATO military spending.
Sixty per cent of respondents believe that relations between Spain and the United States will deteriorate during Trump’s presidency, and 39% believe that relations between Spain and the United States are currently poor or very poor, compared to 14% who consider them to be good or very good. Likewise, 70% of respondents believe that Trump’s presidency will worsen relations between the US and the European Union, and 62% believe that it will strengthen extremist parties around the world.
Thirty per cent of respondents say they have some knowledge of Spain’s contribution to the independence of the United States, and a similar number correctly identify the year in which it was proclaimed. More than half of respondents familiar with US independence know what Spain’s contribution consisted of.
The Benjamin Franklin University Institute for Research in American Studies is a centre at the University of Alcalá founded in 1987 with the aim of developing new avenues of institutional collaboration between Spain and the United States through the funding of research projects, the organisation of international meetings and conferences, and the development of academic programmes for American students.