“The real problem of the extreme right in Spain is not political but psychiatric.” This phrase was uttered by a prominent leader of the extreme right itself at the dawn of the current democracy. Four decades later, the tremendous statements that are being heard in the Recent weeks have revived the echoes of that diagnosis. Now, do the majority of Spaniards share the right’s apocalyptic perception of the territorial situation? And more importantly: what territorial model for Spain do citizens prefer?
Certainly, the concern caused by the Catalan independence movement has multiplied by four since last July, in the heat of the debate on the amnesty for the secessionist leaders who promoted the process. But this issue has gone from being cited as one of the three main problems in Spain by 0.4% of those consulted by the CIS, in July, to 1.6%, in October. That is, still light years away from the 25% that mentioned it in November 2017.
The paradox of the current indicators is that while the conservative bloc describes a terrifying panorama of the territorial cohesion of Spain and slides towards immobility, in Spanish society the desire for greater decentralization is growing and, at the same time, sentiment is losing steam. of Spanishness. Especially among young people. That feeling – expressed through an exclusively Spanish identity – reached more than 22% of those consulted in 1996; It fell to 16% seven years ago, and stands at just over 9% today.
At the same time, mixed affiliation (both Spanish and from its autonomous community) is consolidated as the majority and the group formed by those who feel more identified with the name of their autonomy than with the Spanish identity has grown five points since 2016 (now they represent more than fifteen%). And simultaneously, the percentage of those who feel very or quite proud of being Spanish stagnates downwards (six points less than twenty years ago), while the percentage of those who feel little or not at all proud grows (almost 11 points). .
Finally, territorial preferences – a thermometer of the autonomist sensitivity of Spaniards – have registered, in the last decade, a drop of more than ten points among those who opt for a State without autonomies. And although, as a consequence of polarization, a third of citizens (but six points less than ten years ago) are inclined to suppress or reduce the autonomy of the territories, another third (12 points more than a decade ago) support that the autonomies have more powers or even the possibility of becoming independent states. Finally, almost 32% – seven points less than in 2018 – prefer to maintain the current territorial status quo.
However, the most relevant thing about the CIS survey on the identities of Spaniards is the future that the new generations draw. The contrast between the identity and territorial preferences of young people between 18 and 24 years old and those expressed by the so-called “silent generation” (those over 75 years old) is overwhelming. For example, while only 5% of young people feel they are only Spanish, this percentage is above 10% (and up to 15%) among those over 55 years of age.
Regarding pride in being Spanish, only a third of young people feel very proud of it, compared to more than half among those over 60 years of age. And, in parallel, while less than 9% of those over 75 years of age (and around 15% among those over 55) declare themselves little or not proud of being Spanish, that figure rises to 24% among generation Z (those under 26 years of age).
Finally, in the chapter on territorial preferences, young people draw a much more relaxed Spain: 41% (ten points more than the average) support the current autonomous model; 21% (almost three points above the average) defend granting more self-government to the communities, and more than 18% (five points above the average) admit that the communities can become independent states.
In short, much of the territorial inflammation that is being felt these days in the streets of Madrid or other Spanish capitals could have an artificial dimension that does not correspond to the authentic autonomous sensitivity of the majority of citizens.
