Spain's image inside and outside its borders

The Spanish “think thank” Real Instituto Elcano has published the report “Image Barometer of Spain” (IBS), the results of which once again show that Spain has a very positive international image, opposite to the much more negative self-image Spaniards have in aspects such as corruption, weakness or poverty.

The report prepared based on 4,400 interviews with people from 11 countries (7 from the EU -including Spain-, United States, China, India and South Korea), contains, among others , the following findings:

• Decrease in the valuation of all countries due to the Covid-19 crisis.  As in the previous crisis of 2008, there has been a general drop in the valuation of all countries and of all national and international institutions, especially public ones, whether or not responsible of managing the crisis.
• The Spanish ranking has not changed, keeping the second position among European countries just behind Germany. There is a significant fall of the United Kingdom, after Brexit, with a rating below the EU average, however its assessment is higher among non-European countries. China is the only country that fails, what could be explained by the geographical origin of the pandemic.
• International public opinion approves management of the pandemic in Spain, with an above-average rating, second only to Germany.
• Tourism, gastronomy and sports are the most valuable elements of Spain, both for Spaniards and foreigners.
• Spain has a very positive international image, opposite to the much more negative self-image that Spaniards have in aspects such as corruption, weakness or poverty. Almost two thirds of Spaniards (64%) define the country as corrupt (compared to 27% of Europeans), 52% see Spain as weak (25% of Europeans), and 62% consider it to be poor (43% of Europeans).
• International alliances. Spaniards have shown a preference for allying with the United States over China, although the majority option is still to be autonomous.
• Fighting against climate change is the main foreign policy urgency in Spain and in most of the countries included in the study.