64% of Spaniards decided their vote in the European elections based on national political issues

In the European elections, people generally vote on the basis of the national political situation. That is at least what the post-election study by the Centre for Sociological Research (CIS) on the elections of 12 June reveals: 64.1% decided their vote on issues “related to the current political situation in Spain” and only 23.7% of those who went to the polls made their decision on who to vote for based on issues “related to the European Union and the European Parliament”.

In fact, when asked about the main reason that motivated their vote, only 4.1% mentioned the proposals to improve the European Union. 31.9% voted for the party that best represents their ideas and 20.4% for the party that best defends Spain’s interests in the European Parliament.

The CIS asked respondents which issues they consider were most discussed during the campaign: 13.1% of respondents said it was immigration, 5.7%, and in third place, with 5%, was what the CIS refers to as “the president’s wife”, in reference to the investigation opened by a Madrid court against Begoña Gómez. In fourth place, respondents generally pointed to “national issues”, with 4.8%.

The study, published on Tuesday, found that 86% of respondents maintained their decision to vote for one party or another, without the campaign influencing them; 13.5% acknowledged that the campaign, the programmes and meeting the candidates led them to change their vote.

The CIS also indicates that 38.3% of voters were informed about election issues through television in the first place, 19.7% did so through digital media, 19.1% through social networks, 12.7% through radio and only 4.5% through print media.