84.3% of Spaniards support reforming the Constitution

MadridTaking advantage of the joint event held this Tuesday by the Valencian Parliament (Les Corts) to celebrate the longest-standing Constitution in history, the CIS (Spanish Center for Sociological Research) survey for February included questions about the Constitution. 82.3% of Spaniards believe it has contributed to the advancement of social rights in Spain, but even more believe it needs some reform. Specifically, according to the institute headed by José Félix Tezanos, 84.3% of citizens believe the current Constitution "needs some reform"—66.5% think these should be "significant" changes, while 32.1% believe they should be "minor" reforms. In order of priority, respondents believe modifications are needed regarding "social, economic, and labor rights," while the form of government—monarchy or republic—is only mentioned by 13.8%.

If we look at the data by party, all formations advocate for constitutional changes, although there are fewer supporters on the right: 72.3% of PP voters and 82.7% of Vox voters; while on the left this percentage rises even further, to 90.5% in the case of PSOE voters; 100% in ERC voters; 93.2% in Sumar voters; and 95.6% in Junts voters. The difference between parties emerges when respondents are asked about the direction of these changes. Basque and Catalan separatists and nationalists prefer to change the Constitution regarding territorial issues or the model of the State. These indicators drop to a minimum in the other parties, which prefer modifications to social issues.

"It is shameful that the 1978 Constitution has practically not been reformed," Podemos said this Monday morning. The purple party believes that the Transition "perpetuated" many aspects of the Franco regime. Indeed, one only needs to look at who is participating in Tuesday's event at the Valencian Parliament to defend the Constitution: they were at the Constitution Day celebration last December. Only the PP and the PSOE attended the eventNationalists and separatists have been organizing these kinds of events for some time now, and now parties to the left of the PSOE and the far-right Vox party have joined in, using their refusal to share any events with the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, as an excuse.

The PSOE is ahead of the PP and Vox is on the rise

Regarding the election results, Tezanos goes against the grain of all the polls and predicts a victory for the PSOE. But not only that: he widens the gap between Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo to almost 10 points. He gives the PSOE a 32.6% vote share estimate and the PP 22.9%. Vox also gains ground, reaching 18.9%, slightly more than in the previous poll. Suar remains around 7% of the vote despite the debate in recent weeks about how the left should present itself. "What the CIS is doing is corruption," retorted the PP, which believes it makes no sense for it to contradict private polls. "It's also the opposite of what the ballot boxes are saying in the regional elections," declared the PP's deputy secretary, Carmen Fúnez: "Pedro Sánchez is leaving the PSOE at historic lows."

If people are asked directly about their preference for the president, Pedro Sánchez also wins by a wide margin. According to the CIS (Spanish Center for Sociological Research), 39.7% of Spaniards prefer him as the occupant of La Moncloa (the Prime Minister's official residence), ahead of 16% who say they would opt for Santiago Abascal and 15.6% who want Alberto Núñez Feijóo. Meanwhile, Gabriel Rufián, of ERC (Republican Left of Catalonia), continues to appear as the most highly regarded politician on the left, with 6.6%, ahead of Yolanda Díaz, of Sumar (4.9%). Isabel Díaz Ayuso gets 5.3%.

Regarding the problems facing Spaniards, the number one continues to be housing, with 42.8%, followed by immigration (20.3%) and the economic crisis (18.1%).

Against Trump

The other issue that generates consensus among Spanish society is opposition to the US president, Donald Trump, who is with whom Sánchez specifically wants to counter this. According to the CIS (Spanish Center for Sociological Research), 76.5% of Spaniards have a "bad or very bad" opinion of Trump, compared to 15.7% who say they have a "very good or good" opinion. Similarly, 83.5% oppose the United States' attempt to control Greenland, and 79.5% believe the US president is a "danger" to world peace. On the other hand, 70.7% of those surveyed are "very or quite worried" about Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but concern about the war in the Middle East drops to 66.2%.