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Context: In 2016, the early leaving from education and training (ELET) rate in the Balearic Islands, Spain, was 26.8%. According to the most recent data, the participation rate in intermediate vocational education and training (VET) was 31.5%, and the graduation rate was 53.2%. In this paper, we present the main elements of the social agreement among political and social actors, derived from social discussion, which may form the main building blocks for addressing the problems of ELET and, more specifically, dropout in VET. Approach: The social discussion was developed under the need for a broader and more inclusive vision between the formal education system and the community as well as among their agents and initiatives, the mutual understanding between the educational strategies and the models of formal and non-formal education systems and the need for a dynamic and holistic approach to experiential learning processes. As researchers, we analysed the videorecorded content of participants' contributions using three categories: problems, strategies for improvements and contributions of the work group to the social agreement. Findings: The experience evidenced the severity of the ELET problem in the Balearic Islands and proved that preventing ELET and returning people between the ages of 16 and 24 to education and training programmes must become political priorities. The social agreement reflects the consensus reached regarding the need to work in networks, encourage collaboration between formal and non-formal education and emphasise the central role of the community and the active participation of students. The proposed actions regarding VET focus on the need to establish a system that integrates VET from education and from employment systems and the need to increase the offer to connect with the needs of businesses, the territory and a new model of production. The necessity of improving the quality of the system, moving towards more inclusive education and training teachers to recognize and reduce dropout risk factors was also brought up. Conclusion: The social agreement is possible even in contexts with little tradition. The innovation of this experience lies in its equating all participants at the same level of discussion. We highlight the intersection of the variety of positions that emerged in the debates as well as the consensus reached regarding the suggested proposals to address the problem of ELET and dropout in VET in the Balearic Islands.

This paper focuses on the concept of the impact area as the intersection between the common issues of the personal agenda and the public agenda. Expanding the concept of agenda-setting effects, which focuses mainly on the relation between the public and media agendas, we have examined the congruity of the public agenda and the personal agenda as a contingent condition for the strength of these effects. The concept also distinguishes between the top-priority issues of the public and personal agendas, setting out that the general public's search for information about these top-priority issues highlights the need for orientation. We used data from Spain to focus on the national elections (2011, 2015 and 2019), plus the beginning of the pandemic (2020). The study includes a content analysis of the El País daily newspaper for the four periods and a variety of surveys and representative electoral barometers. To those data we have added an analysis of the main search topics on Google Trends for each of the four years. The results reveal that variations in the relationship between the public and personal agendas are linked to the strength of the agenda-setting effect between the media and public agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Scripta is the property of Scripta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article analyses photography as a tool for reinforcing textual discourses in the written press and supporting the popularisation of certain methods and practices in the illustrated press and magazines. The photographs will not be analysed as educational documents or testimony to educational activities but rather in an effort to explore the attempts to illustrate a message graphically so as to influence public opinion and change society's perception of schools' role and the functions of education. The way in which the Maria Montessori method was graphically disseminated in Spanish illustrated magazines between 1911 and 1931 is the focus of this paper. (Contains 4 figures and 47 footnotes.)

Support for universal basic income is one of the key conundrums of the politics of welfare reform. Research shows that the predictors of UBI favourability also explain support for other policy alternatives, which differ substantially from a UBI, like targeted or conditional cash transfers. What is attractive or objectionable about a UBI to individuals, and which policy alternatives does public opinion actually prefer? In this paper, I tackle these questions with a conjoint experiment conducted in Spain. The results show that the universality of UBI, i.e., the fact that it is given to everyone, is what generates opposition. On the other hand, its unconditionality or the idea that it does not attach any conditions to recipients, is not particularly unpopular. However, the results also reveal that progressive funding mechanisms and restricting eligibility criteria to citizens only, can boost approval for this policy. These results have far-reaching implications for the study of welfare preferences, UBI support and theories on deservingness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The debate about prostitution within Spain's feminist movement has recently, and recurrently, been transferred to the social and political sphere, but without arriving at a clear and shared position. The aim of this research is to verify the characteristics of those who are in favor of banning prostitution in Spain and to what extent there are differences between men and women. Methods: To do so, we will use our own collected data during 2022 through a prestigious social research company, 40 dB, and by applying advanced statistical techniques—Logit model. Results: The analysis illustrates three types of profile. The first one depicts the prohibitionist's supporter profile in general terms. The second and the third ones demonstrate how women and men share similarities but also underlying differences, showing how women are more inclined than men to the prohibitionist approach. Conclusions: This paper comes to validate, once again, most of the previous theoretical supported evidences, but not the religious element as a defining variable for being a banning supporter. The data also shows the possible consensus of those surveyed on this issue across different political parties. Policy Implications: The implications of all kinds that arise around prostitution generate different public perceptions about its existence and practice, with its prohibition being one of the most important issues on the Spanish public agenda in recent months. This article depicts how the Spanish society positions itself in this policy agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agri-food system needs to transition into a more balanced system that takes into account economic, social, and environmental factors. Young people are a key demographic group to consider as they are open to new trends of consumption, including sustainable buying practices. Public universities can play a significant role in promoting sustainable and healthy eating habits among students. In this paper, we focus on the perceptions of young people regarding sustainable food in the Madrid Region. We conducted a survey using a questionnaire-based approach among 1940 students in 2022. The results highlight that young consumers are highly concerned about food sustainability. They perceive sustainability as local and non-processed foods. However, this perception varies among young consumers, and we identified five different consumer profiles. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis provide insights into potential actions that universities can take to promote sustainable and healthy eating habits among students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Spanish Constitutional Court has occupied a central position in the Spanish political system since the Transition. Its decisions have completed, and still complete, the articles of the 1978 Constitution. Nevertheless, despite its intense activity in civil and administrative issues, this institution has progressively lost support among public opinion. To a large extent, the Court is now considered a politicized organization serving the interests of Conservative political forces. The growing intrusion of the judiciary in Spanish politics has increased this feeling. How to explain this biased viewpoint? In this paper, we argue that there are two reasons for this declining trust. On the one hand, the Court is the collateral victim of party politics which forced it to take sides. The Court is subject to a process of polarization affecting the whole Spanish political system. On the other hand, the Court has interfered regularly in the political debate by imposing its view, up to blocking parliamentary debates in late 2022. This double process is analysed from a new institutional perspective. We identified four critical junctures involving the Court and political parties, namely the delaying of decisions, the veto on governmental policy, the recusing of justices, and the blockade of appointments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the participation processes displayed by women with physical functional diversity in Spain, from the perspective of feminism and human rights. Responses from 18 participants with physical functional diversity allowed us to describe the female participants, as well as to explain their participation histories and plans, including any enabling or obstructing elements. This feedback also allowed us to interpret the participation models of women in positions or situations of influence. This paper, using qualitative methodology, combines grounded theory, intersectionality, and discourse narration to analyse the life contexts and elements that impede access to social participation on a level playing field for these women. The results present emancipatory tools for women and arguments for political decision-making that can help women overcome oppression and violence, thereby facilitating their integration into society. The defence of people's rights is a professional endeavour grounded in social work theory and involves drawing attention to inequalities, in this case, those faced by women with functional diversity. Social work training should prepare social workers for advocacy based on human rights and be led by people with disabilities themselves. Research into disability in social work yields advances in strategies for social and civic participation, particularly for women with functional diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines regional legislative initiatives in Spain, a mechanism of shared-rule regulated in article 87.2 of the Spanish Constitution. Through description and analysis of an original dataset covering all legislative terms from 1978 to 2021, it is shown how this specific mechanism has not accomplished its shared-rule objective. Moreover, the article identifies patterns that determine the strategic use, intensity and failure or success of the legislative initiatives. We find diverging trends across regions exemplified by Catalonia, the most active territory but with a very low approval rate. Overall, the analysis underlines how the state-wide scope initiatives seem to have a strategic rather than a legislative purpose while, on the other hand, regional scope initiatives are explained by minor self-rule objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Icono 14 is the property of Grupo Icono 14 and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Covid-19 is the first pandemic to be broadcast and photographed as it happens worldwide. However, despite the plethora of images on countless aspects of the pandemic, few media images have covered its more sensitive issues, such as the collapse of the healthcare system, the process of dying alone, or the disruption to funeral rites and mourning. Consequently, the visual narratives of the pandemic are biased. They lack images that show its more dramatic aspects. This affects not only how the public perceives and reacts to Covid-19, but also the visual evidence that will remain for historical memory in the future. With one of the world's highest case rates and most stringent states of emergency, Spain offers an interesting case study to analyse the pandemic's photographic narratives and its missing images during lockdown. This paper focuses on the presence or absence of images dealing with illness, death, dying and grief, as well as their ways of representation. It delves into the framing of particular visual narratives through an analysis of the images that appeared in Spain's leading newspapers, together with semi-structured interviews conducted with renowned photojournalists who worked on the front line to document Covid-19 during lockdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Methaodos: Social Science Journal / Methaodos: Revista de Ciencias Sociales is the property of Departamento de Ciencias de la Comunicacion y Sociologia, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper analyses the relationship between the COVID-19 crisis and multinationalism in Spain from two complementary angles. First, it provides an overview on how the multinational and decentralized character of Spanish territorial politics shapes the response to the crisis. We find that the management of the crisis reflects and exacerbates the main features of the Spanish territorial model as a case of incomplete federalism with severe intergovernmental deficits. Second, we analyze the effects of the pandemic on Catalan self-determination demands through a brief description of parties, public opinion and governmental reactions. We argue that Catalan secessionism faces several new impediments as a result of the pandemic, but we also find that the COVID-19 crisis provides a window of opportunity for this movement regarding grievance-building and regional governmental performance and salience. We conclude with a general reflection on the ambivalent impact of COVID-19 crisis on Spanish regionalism and territorial politics. Overall, the COVID-19 crisis does not seem to mean an improvement but a potential setback for the accommodation of national diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mine Water & the Environment is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This note illustrates some of the new roles that armed forces are taking on in developed countries, highlighting the structure, capabilities, and missions developed by the Spanish Military Emergency Unit (UME). The note describes some of these new roles assumed by UME, such as its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and shows, using official temporal and georeferenced data, the growing use of the military to support civilian authorities in response to natural disasters, man-made disasters, and other emergencies alike. In addition, we also analyze public opinion survey data to argue that this is helping to improve society's perception of the armed forces even in a country like Spain where, due to its recent history, a significant part of its population is reluctant to the military. In short, the military is taking on more emergency roles as needs arise and these new roles can help to improve its perception by citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The general elections of 2015 in Spain were elections of change. Two new parties for which voters had no previous historical reference points burst onto the parliamentary scene. Two (partially) opposed theories vie to offer an explanation as to how voters build their aggregate electoral expectations. In this paper, we investigate which mechanism has the greatest influence on the formation of expectations: published opinion or social interactions. Likewise, we also study if there is an ideological bias in the voters' perception of the future results of the electoral battle. Based on analysis of microdata from a survey (sample size = 14,262) conducted in Spain on the occasion of the general elections of 2015, we provide evidence: firstly, that the published surveys are the main source used by voters to configure their aggregate expectations; and secondly, that the interpretation and projection that voters make about reality is not neutral, but strongly influenced by their own beliefs and preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Popular accounts of populist movements often point to negative emotions as a key motivating factor underlying their support. However, little systematic research has been devoted to examining differences in how distinct negative emotions affect levels of populism among voters. This paper attempts to fill this gap by focusing on the influence of the two emotions most frequently connected to populism in political commentary: fear and anger. Informed by appraisal theories of emotions, we hypothesize that populist attitudes are driven by feelings of anger, rather than fear. Using a three-wave online panel survey of Spanish citizens between 2014 and 2016, we find that anger expressed over the economic crisis is consistently associated with variations in support for populism both between individuals and over time, whereas no significant effects emerge for expressions of fear. We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding the nature of populist support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to 2002 the Romanian population in Spain was negligible, yet today it constitutes the largest immigrant population, raising questions of how this country receives and integrates new migrant groups and negotiates perceptions of similarity and difference between natives and foreigners. Using survey data from the Centro de Investigaciones Científicas and political debates from the Congreso de los Diputados this paper asks how perceptions of Romanian immigrants develop over time. The paper finds that social perceptions of Romanian immigration and political debate on the Romanian population in Spain are somewhat disconnected, as social attitudes develop independently of elite-level political discourse. Therefore, just as immigrants are not perceived or presented in the same way in politics and society, or on a national and a local level, neither do the processes based on these perceptions, such as discrimination or exclusion, play out in the same way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotions have a social component that can be defined in terms of the experience of participation. This paper examines how Spanish citizens use Twitter to express their emotions by tweeting their opinions regarding pertinent political decisions. Content analysis was applied to the Twitter accounts of four political parties representing the Spanish electorate. Results show that when Spanish citizens tweeted their opinions about established Spanish political parties, negative emotions (indignation and shame) were more prevalent than positive emotions (hope, joy, and excitement). Furthermore, newer, less experienced political parties managed emotions more effectively than the established political parties did. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the political system and in public perception, the well-functioning of economy is frequently equalled to the output of the national economic system. However, during the last decades, this narrow conception of economic prosperity started to erode. This paper is based on a rural prosperity conceptual framework that takes into account the systemic nature and dynamics of interactions and impacts within rural systems through the analysis of an organic agriculture cooperative called Camposeven in the south east of Spain. The focus is on rural prosperity, differences in understanding, related parameters and strategies used by the cooperativés farming partners to success without following the traditional conventions of economic growth and farm-efficiency. Experience lessons in this paper demonstrate that the “technical-economic” approach of rural prosperity is not sufficient and results emphasize the important role of individuals’ behaviour as well as the contexts in which they are involved. The findings point to the increasing relevance of expanding both the theory and practice of rural prosperity approaches in sustainable rural development. This is important in order to enrich the connections between rural prosperity and other concepts such as social capital, innovation, social learning and resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing demand for affordable, reliable, domestically sourced, and low-carbon electricity is a matter of concern and it is driven by several causes including public policy priorities. Policy objectives and new technologies are changing wholesale market design. The analysis of different aspects of energy markets is increasingly on the agendas of academics, firms' managers or policy makers. Some concerns are global and are related to the evolution of climate change phenomena. Others are regional or national and they strongly appear in countries like Spain with a high dependence on foreign energy sources and high potential of domestic renewable energy sources. We can find a relevant case in Spanish solar energy policy. A series of regulatory reforms since 2010 reduce revenues to existing renewable power generators and they end up the previous system of support to new renewable generation. This policy change has altered the composition of the energy market affecting investment decisions. In this paper, we analyze the public opinion about energy policy of the Spanish Government using the Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone (GDELT). The GDELT Project consists of over a quarter-billion event records in over 300 categories covering the entire world from 1979 to present, along with a massive network diagram connecting every person, organization, location, and theme to this event database. Our aim is to build sentiment indicators arising from this source of information and, in a final step, evaluate if positive and negative indexes have any effect on the evolution of key market variables as prices and demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents research into the journalistic treatment of the escrache phenomenon led by the anti-eviction movement in Spain in 2013. For this purpose, an analytical model has been constructed that helps to understand how the mass media, the social elite, social movements and the virtual public sphere interact in the public opinion process. Based on this analytical model and using frame theory, the coverage of escraches by two Spanish newspapers, El País and La Vanguardia, is analysed, comparing it with the main statements made by the spokespersons of the movement, and the social elite. The results confirm the hypothesis: the social elite sets the predominant overall frame for the journalistic treatment of the phenomenon. The escraches case, however, is exceptional in that the argument frames proposed by the movement acquired a greater degree of 'legitimacy' than those proposed by the elite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political polarization and information disorders are not new phenomena on the media agenda, but they have acquired considerable prominence in the wake of international events such as the election of Donald Trump. The present article seeks to help in understanding the interrelation of these concepts -disinformation and polarization- in the European quality press in recent years. Six newspapers (El Mundo, El País, Le Figaro, Le Monde, The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian) from three countries were selected on the basis of their quality, audience and representative character of their editorial lines between 2017 and late 2022, and a qualitative and quantitative frame analysis (n = 286) was carried out. Having observed all the definitions of polarization in the press, it was seen that party political alignment has the greatest presence in the international scenario, coming before the division of public opinion. In the sample, Spain has a prominent position, claiming to be a polarized pluralist country, as opposed to United Kingdom, which closely observes what happens in the United States, or France, where these phenomena have achieved less penetration. The conclusion is that political polarization is presented as a chronic problem caused by political actors who are not going to cease doing so, as opposed to information disorders, which are produced by certain specific international actors, such as Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, and Jair Bolsonaro, who take advantage of communication flows on social media and the latter's lack of regulation. This article suggests that the way to resolve or at least alleviate the problem is by defending quality information and public media, emphasizing citizen responsibility in the face of social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have shown that attitudes toward social policy are influenced by expectations of social mobility at the individual level and perceptions of social fluidity at the aggregate level. If individuals think of inequalities as the result of inherited disadvantages, they will be more willing to distribute resources from the rich to the poor. However, one important question remains open: How do individuals perceive the distribution of opportunities in society? In this paper we argue that individuals believe a society to be fair if opportunities for reaching the top of the social ladder are equally distributed among the population. That is, the distribution of resources is fair to the extent that individual outcomes do not depend on social origins. To address this issue, we asked a representative sample of individuals in the Spanish region of Andalusia what they think the chances are for persons of different social origins to achieve a high social status. We have found that those who think the chances for reaching the top are unequally distributed are those who support greater government responsibility and oppose meritocracy and competition, as they believe the initial distribution of opportunities to be unfair. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Who do citizens blame for the recent European economic crisis? In this paper, we test theories about blame attribution with respect to the economic crisis. We argue that blame for the crisis is partially conditioned by partisan bias and framings of the crisis as being related to globalization. We test the argument with new survey data and a survey experiment from Spain. In the experiment, respondents receive different framings of the economic crisis which are endorsed by different political parties and non-partisan organizations. We obtain the following findings: (i) blame for who is responsible for the economic crisis is greatly affected by partisanship; (ii) making globalization as a cause of the crisis salient exonerates the government of blame, but only for co-partisans of the government; and (iii) citizens are willing to blame other globalization-related factors for the crisis, in particular, European governments and blame the domestic government less. The results expand our understanding of public opinion dynamics during major economic recessions and also suggest conditions under which 'scapegoating' globalization can occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The objective of this paper is to analyze the attitude toward xenotransplantation and to determine the variables that influence this attitude in the population of southeast Spain who were born in Eastern European countries., Methods: A random sample was taken of natives from Eastern Europe residing in southeast Spain (n=320). The sample was obtained randomly between November 2005 and April 2006 and stratified according to the respondents' nationality. Attitude was evaluated using a validated questionnaire which was self-administered and completed anonymously. The control group was a random sample of the native Spanish population (n=250). The statistical analysis used included Student's t-test, the chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and a logistic regression analysis., Results: The questionnaire completion rate was 83% (n=267). Regarding the use of animal organs for transplantation in humans, if the outcome were similar to that achieved when using human organs, 43% (n=114) would be in favor, 32% (n=86) undecided, and the remaining 25% (n=67) would be against it. This attitude is less favorable than in the control group (43% versus 74%, p<0.001). The attitude was related to the following factors: 1) the country of origin (p<0.001); 2) participation in social help activities (p<0.001); 3) discussion on organ donation and transplantation within the family (p=0.005); 4) previous experience of organ donation and transplantation (p=0.002); 5) the respondent's religion (p=0.002); 6) knowing that one's partner had a favorable attitude toward transplantation (p<0.001); 7) the respondent's belief that he or she might need a transplant in the future (p<0.001); 8) the attitude toward human donation, both from cadaver (p<0.001) and living (p<0.001) donors. The following were also independent variables in the subsequent multivariate analysis: 1) favorable attitude toward cadaver organ donation (OR=4.998); 2) previous experience of donation (0R=2.857); 3) partner's attitude against transplantation (OR=0.079); and 4) attitude toward living donation (OR=12. 703)., Conclusions: The attitude toward xenotransplantation is less positive among Eastern Europeans living in Spain than in the native Spanish population and is influenced by many psychosocial factors that are mainly related to human organ donation.

This paper explored public willingness to act when exposed to cases of intimate partner violence against women, by analyzing the influence of perceived severity and personal responsibility on two types of responses: mediating and reporting to the police. Results (N = 419) yielded main effects of personal responsibility for both types of responses. No main effects of perceived severity were found. A significant interaction between perceived severity and personal responsibility was found only for reporting responses. Results are discussed in light of the helping behavior research tradition. Implications for public education and advocacy programs are also considered.

Both public and private insurance for long-term care (LTC) in European countries employed is underdeveloped. However, limited evidence is gathered on the behavioural demand responses to the introduction of insurance schemes expanding insurance coverage. This paper aims at empirically examining the determinants of the ex ante demand for LTC coverage drawing upon an insurance-based WTP referendum approach format. Data is collected from a representative population sample of Catalonia (Spain), before a countrywide funding system was developed. Our findings suggest that (based on our questionnaire format) only one-fifth of the population is willing to pay for LTC coverage though it is a highly elastic product. Ex ante demand for LTC coverage is driven by individual's perceptions of old age disability risk (private information asymmetry) and housing tenure (giving rise to self-insurance), the latter reduces the probability of insurance coverage demand.

This paper discusses the reverberations which news of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936 had in the Irish Free State. As a result of the Irish Catholic Church and the conservative press hailing General Franco as the saviour of Catholic Spain from a godless Communist minority, Irish public opinion was overwhelmingly pro-Franco. Against this background, the paper gives a brief overview of the most interesting literary treatments of the Spanish Civil War in different genres by both pro-Nationalist and pro-Republican Irish writers. The rest of the paper focuses on Peadar O'Donnell, Irish novelist and one of the founding figures of the Republican Congress, a radical left-wing movement of the 1930s. His book Salud! An Irishman in Spain (1937) represents an eyewitness account of the mobilization of the Republican defence forces and the workers’ revolution in Catalonia during the first few months of the war. O'Donnell tried to present a seemingly even-handed picture of the Spanish revolutionary anarchists, whose agricultural reforms he clearly admired, but whose violent attacks on the Catholic Church he condemned. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The effect of immigration preferences on electoral outcomes in Spain is understudied. This paper hypothesises that, even in the absence of a radical right party, immigration preferences can be associated with mainstream voting when they are incorporated into established axes of political conflict. The analyses show that the electoral strength of immigration preferences is connected with the strength of the centre–periphery cleavage in Spain. More specifically, immigration preferences are a stronger determinant of the vote for parties with relatively more pro-decentralisation stances, among individuals with more coherent immigration and decentralisation attitudes, and in regions where the centre–periphery cleavage is stronger. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Why are the Basques and Catalans the most left-wing societies in Europe? Treating peripheral nationalism and ideology as two orthogonal dimensions, the literature to date has not yet provided a systematic theoretical account of this pattern. In an attempt to fill this gap, this paper explores how nationalism has marked the meaning of ideology in these regions. Contrary to the left, the right has been treated as the opponent of regional devolution. The findings highlight the need to revise the orthogonality assumption often made when employing these two dimensions in the study of public opinion in Catalonia and the Basque Country. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper re-examines the electoral effect of the 11-M terrorist attacks in Madrid. Previous research has focused on post-electoral surveys to construct counterfactuals for the evaluation of the electoral impact of the attack. Bali (Electoral Studies, 2007) claims that the terrorists attacks had an important electoral impact while claim the opposite. In this paper I propose to re-examine the evidence using a methodological approach based on actual votes instead of opinions revealed by surveys, and the difference-in-differences estimator. The calculations under the counterfactual of “no terrorist attack” support the forecasts of the polls taken prior to the terrorist attack and the results of . The incumbent (conservative) party would have won the election with between 42% and the 45% of the votes, while the socialist party would have obtained 37% of the votes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The number of people using online social networks in their everyday life is continuously growing at a pace never saw before. This new kind of communication has an enormous impact on opinions, cultural trends, information spreading and even in the commercial success of new products. More importantly, social online networks have revealed as a fundamental organizing mechanism in recent country-wide social movements. In this paper, we provide a quantitative analysis of the structural and dynamical patterns emerging from the activity of an online social network around the ongoing May 15th (15M) movement in Spain. Our network is made up by users that exchanged tweets in a time period of one month, which includes the birth and stabilization of the 15M movement. We characterize in depth the growth of such dynamical network and find that it is scale-free with communities at the mesoscale. We also find that its dynamics exhibits typical features of critical systems such as robustness and power-law distributions for several quantities. Remarkably, we report that the patterns characterizing the spreading dynamics are asymmetric, giving rise to a clear distinction between information sources and sinks. Our study represents a first step towards the use of data from online social media to comprehend modern societal dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While developing climate change policies, regional governments and agents may have different purposes, follow different strategies, and use different appraisal procedures than those of national governments or other regions within the same countries. Climate change adds an additional source of problematisation to the functioning of traditional nation-states structures, not only at the international level but also with regard to their relations with sub-national agencies. This paper tests this hypothesis by analysing the emergence of climate strategies and capacities in region of Catalonia, north-east Spain, through the use of a novel integrated assessment tool called the 'climate learning ladder' that looks at four main dimensions: (1) how perceptions on climate change have evolved in this region since the beginning of the 1990s, (2) what type of incentives or systems of sanctions have triggered climate action, (3) what specific options are available or have been developed, and (4) what new institutional arrangements have been put in place during this time. Results indicate that although in Catalonia distinctive climate appraising processes have been tried, new measures have been implemented and new institutions have been created, not much of a distinctive progress regarding Integrated Climate Governance (ICG) has been achieved. Furthermore, this research shows that so far the main incentives which triggered climate action and innovation have been largely exogenous to the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first high-speed rail was inaugurated in Spain in April 1992 on the Madrid–Seville route with great success in passenger occupancy and notable impact on the regional development. The Madrid–Barcelona–French Border high speed rail has not been inaugurated yet, as it has been subject to delay in the engineering work. These facts have led public opinion to be very favorable toward the Madrid–Seville high speed rail but unfavorable toward the Madrid–Barcelona–French Border route. In this paper, we will compare the “ex post” cost–benefit analysis by De Rus and Inglada (Ann Reg Sci 31:175–188, 1997) for the Madrid–Seville route with the “ex ante” cost–benefit analysis made by Inglada and Coto-Millán (Essays on Microeconomics and Industrial Organization. Springer Physica, Heidelberg, 2004) for the Madrid–Barcelona–French Border route. The basic assumptions of time values, accident values and social discount rate of 6% in real terms are the same in both studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The significant rise in the number of populist radical right (PRR) parties has not been accompanied by a parallel interest in the consequences that these parties may have on public opinion. The limited range of attitudes that the literature has considered so far can be broadened to include political correctness (PC), given the increasing attacks on this concept made by PRR parties. To address the effects of such attacks, we examine the Spanish case, where the presence of a new PRR party makes anti-PC messages a recent, quite exogenous stimulus. Using panel data to address potential non-recursive relationships and time-variant effects, we find that individuals are indeed more prone to lowering their levels of PC after finding Vox an attractive electoral option. Our results inform the debates on the effects that 'cultural wars', anti-woke and anti-PC rhetorics may have on public opinion, which could lead ultimately to harmful consequences for minority groups and social cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this cross-sectional study is to analyze the consumption of information about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Spain and to ascertain the public’s perception of the role of journalists, the media, the scientific community, and governmental and health authorities. The methodology involved taking a descriptive survey of a sample of 1,800 people who were representative of the Spanish population, were of legal age, and were residents of the 17 autonomous communities, between June 6 and 22, 2022. Age, political leaning, attitude toward vaccines, and level of education were determining variables. The results show that ideology and age are the factors that most condition the use of different types of information sources. Centrists consume more traditional media than those on the political left or right, who are the least likely to obtain their information from traditional media. And left-wingers rely more on official sources, such as health authorities, in contrast to centrists or right-wingers. Anti-vaccinationists (anti-vaxxers) prefer alternative sources. Meanwhile, the use of sources does not differ between men and women. Their consumption behavior is similar, which shows that gender is not a variable that significantly influences information consumption, neither in the selection of sources nor in the perception of the role of science and journalism. In general, the main sources of information consulted during the COVID-19 pandemic were the traditional media and the health authorities. In the context of the pandemic, young people consumed the least information and expressed the greatest distrust in journalism and science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to know the opinions and attitudes of the Spanish population towards hate speech through a survey of 1,022 persons of both sexes and over 16 years of age. The results show a high awareness of hate speech: participants could identify these messages, assess their different intensities of severity, and understand the harm it causes. This high awareness may be because almost half of the sample has felt alluded to by these types of messages at some point. This group is more proactive in denouncing and counterattacking hate messages, although it is more frequent to remain on the sidelines. There is a hierarchy in the ratings in which racist and sexist comments are considered more severe than those directed at other minority groups (e.g., homeless people). Among the main reasons why people publish these expressions, participants point to the education of the authors, in particular, the rudeness and disrespect that are also perceived as a generalized aspect in today’s society. The polarized Spanish political context is seen as beneficial to the appearance of these messages, as well as the lack of a democratic culture that respects ideological diversity. What is most interesting is that although there is awareness of the seriousness of hate messages in other spheres and towards various groups, hate speech has become normalized in politics, as previously stated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has changed the way we communicate. Access to the Internet and social networks has even changed the way we organise ourselves socially. Despite advances in this field, research on the use of social networks in political discourse and citizens' perceptions of public policy remains scarce. So, the empirical study of politicians' discourse on social networks in relation to citizens' perception of public and fiscal policies according to their political affinity is of particular interest. The aim of the research is, therefore, to analyse positioning, from a dual perspective. Firstly, the study analyses the positioning in the discourse of the communication campaigns posted on social networks of Spain's most prominent politicians. And secondly, it evaluates whether this positioning is reflected in citizens' opinions about the public and fiscal policies being implemented in Spain. To this end, a qualitative semantic analysis and a positioning map is performed on a total of 1553 tweets published between 1 June and 31 July 2021 by the leaders of the top ten Spanish political parties. In parallel, a cross-sectional quantitative analysis is carried out, also through positioning analysis, based on the database of the Public Opinion and Fiscal Policy Survey of July 2021 by the Sociological Research Centre (CIS), whose sample is 2849 Spanish citizens. The results show a significant difference in the discourse of political leaders' social network posts—which is more pronounced between right-wing and left-wing parties—and only some differences in citizens' perception of public policies according to their political affinity. This work contributes to identifying the differentiation and positioning of the main parties and helps to guide the discourse of their posts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If children in child protection cannot be cared for by their natural parents, should they be adopted or live in foster home? Results from a study of representative samples of populations (n = 12 330), in eight European countries—Austria, England, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Norway and Spain—and California, USA, reveal that people would recommend adoption over foster care, if a child in public care cannot grow up with their natural parent(s). There are cross‐country differences between populations, and examining if institutional context such as type of child protection system explains differences, we find that child maltreatment‐oriented systems are more supportive of adoption than other types of systems. Citizens having little confidence in the child protection system were only weakly correlated with preference for adoption. In conclusion, people prefer adoption as placement options for children in care are more than foster homes, and possible this finding reflects a sort of refamalialization of children into the private sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To present randomised stimulation level (RSL) – a stimulation paradigm in which the level of the stimuli is randomised, rather than presented sequentially as in the conventional paradigm. The value of RSL was evaluated by (i) comparing the morphology of auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) elicited by the conventional and RSL paradigms, and by (ii) an online survey investigating the hearing comfort of the stimulus sequence. ABRs were obtained from 11 normal-hearing adults (8 females, 25–29 years). The online survey was administered to 238 adults from the general community. Results showed that (i) both stimulation paradigms elicit ABR signals of similar morphology, (ii) RSL provides a faster comprehensive representation of the ABR session, and that (iii) the general population found RSL stimuli to be more comfortable. The simultaneous evaluation of all ABR traces of the session provided by RSL has potential to improve the identification of ABR components by enabling clinicians to make use of the response tracking strategy from the start of the test, which is critical in situations where ABRs present an abnormal morphology. New research opportunities and the clinical potential of RSL are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political opposition to fiscal adjustments has varied significantly across countries. Our analysis links this variation to differences in the congruence of voter attitudes towards fiscal trade-offs across political blocs in different countries. These differences in attitudes, in turn, coincide with the implications of the distinct macroeconomic growth strategies that these countries pursue. Based on original survey data, we show that in Germany, supporters of different parties not only share similar views on the appropriate size of fiscal adjustment, but also on how to distribute these cuts across various spending items. In Spain, there is fundamental disagreement on the amount of austerity, but voters largely agree on the composition of fiscal adjustments. In the UK, there is disagreement between voters of diverging political blocs on both accounts. Variation in public attitudes, therefore, gives rise to very diverse political dynamics surrounding fiscal adjustments in different countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Editorials represent a newspaper's principal means of ideological positioning and serve to identify the attitude of each newspaper and its readership to some of the main actors in any given conflict, especially those that are political in nature. Catalonia's independence movement has experienced a surge in recent years. The turning point came in July 2010, after Spain's constitutional court ruled against some aspects of Catalonia's Statute of Autonomy (the legislation regulating the relationship between the Catalan autonomous community and the Spanish state). The ruling annulled some of the articles of the statute. The demonstration in support of Catalan independence that took place on September 11, 2012, was considered the most important among several mass rallies held for this purpose over successive years on Catalonia's National Day. This article presents the results of a qualitative and quantitative analysis of editorial articles published around these two key dates, with the goal of studying each newspaper's treatment of political actors and their degree of identification with these actors. Their use of arguments aimed at persuading readers and legitimizing a given position during the specified time periods in 2010 and 2012 will also be studied. The study focuses on the editorial articles published by several newspapers in four distinct regional contexts: Catalonia, Valencia, the Basque Country, as well as the whole of Spain. The analyzed articles were published a few days before and after July 10, 2010, and September 11, 2012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores whether the concern shown by the Spanish population about crime as being a problem for the country as a whole and a personal problem in the CIS barometers is a good measurement of the concept of fear of crime. Firstly, the dimensions of fear of crime are shown, and the conceptual and empirical basis for the concern that we have called the problematisation of crime is presented. Secondly, the theoretical relevance of adopting this concept as an indicator of fear of crime is evaluated. Thirdly, empirical data are provided to demonstrate its usefulness. The analysis concludes that the problematisation of crime, constructed on the basis of the barometers of the CIS, is a good measurement of fear of crime, in addition to having some advantages over those used by victimisation surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the implementation of the petrochemical industry, the population of Camp de Tarragona began living with a chemical risk, and after two consecutive years of chemical-related accidents with fatalities (in 2019 in the firm Carburos Metálicos, and in 2020 in the firm IQOXE), it is necessary to know the population's perception of this activity. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the population's risk perception regarding the petrochemical industry, by applying a Public Participation Geographic Information System (PPGIS). To this end, the risk perception data obtained from the PPGIS were correlated with the sociodemographic data from the surveys; an analysis was made of the perceived risks associated with this activity and what its possible effect would be on a territorial level, always from the point of view of the surveyed public. The results showed that the population clearly identifies on the map what the main sources of chemical risk are and which places would be affected by a possible explosion. In addition, it was verified that certain sociodemographic characteristics, such as gender or age, affect people's perception of the risk, and that the weather conditions and anomalous situations within the industry also influence people's perception, indicating high values of danger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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