While the legislator tries, although in fits and starts, to acquire a cruising speed, we see that the political discourse is gradually abandoning the most identity and electoral debates (the amnesty law or the fear of the extreme right , For example). , to focus on what we could call food matters. That is to say: financing, taxes and public services, among others.
In the midst of this turning point, there are two speeches that are making waves. On the one hand, the partner to the right of this one citizens pay more and more taxes and they are tired of being in a hurry.
This is reflected in the annual study Public opinion and fiscal policy recently published by the CIS. 32% of Spaniards currently choose, more or less, to pay less taxes. Even if it means a reduction in public services. This represents a third of the population, the highest figure since Pedro Sánchez became president of the government. In June 2018, this percentage was 19.6%.
But, on the other hand, there is also a discourse that could be associated with the left and the government, according to which public services are deteriorating and that less budgetary effort and privatization are not the solution.
People who are not satisfied with educationTHE healthTHE social servicesTHE public works wave citizen security It already exceeds, in each case, 40% of the population.
The preponderance of these two speeches was clearly demonstrated this week in the parliamentary debate. Thursday, the first vice-president of the Government, Maria Jesus Monteroappeared in Congress to explain the unique financing of Catalonia and accused the PP of having a model that expressly wanted to deteriorate public services.
He declared that the PP model consisted of “privatizing services, asking less tax effort from those who have the most, not giving any guarantee of accessibility to these services to those who need them the most” . “Deteriorating them so that the citizen has the feeling that he is winning when he is privatized, that is what the PP is playing,” he added.
The same day, the economic spokesperson of the PP, Juan Bravoaccused the government of increasing taxes on Spaniards for the benefit of Catalonia. He declared that “there will be fewer doctors in Seville, but more pro-independence embassies; fewer teachers in Jaén, but more advisors in the government of Salvador Illa.”
Both speeches convince a significant part of the population, but each has its characteristics. We’re going in parts, starting with taxes.
Pay less taxes
The study prepared by the CIS questions the willingness to pay taxes and allows citizens to place themselves on a scale of 0 to 10. Those who are between 0 and 4 are those who, to a greater or lesser extent measure, are willing to pay more. taxes to improve public services. On the other hand, those between 6 and 10 years old are the ones who prefer to pay less taxes, even if it means a reduction in public services.
Those who answer 5 are those who consider that things are fine as they are, who do not want to pay more taxes but who do not agree with the idea of paying less at the risk of reducing public services.
According to the study, the 32% of Spaniards are currently in the sector that prefers to pay less taxeseven if this means a reduction in public services and social benefits. Not only is this the highest figure since 2018, as has already been explained, but it is also the year with the greatest growth.
In 2023, this sector represented 25.5% of Spaniards, or a quarter of the population. It has now increased by 6.5 percentage points. This is a larger flood than that which occurred between 2021 and 2022, which was 6.1 points, and This is the first time that this figure has exceeded the 30% threshold since Sánchez’s arrival in government.
However, the most notable change is seen in the opposite sector. The percentage of Spaniards who prefer to pay more taxes and improve services has decreased significantly. Currently, this represents 36.2% of the population, a decrease of 9 percentage points from the previous year. This is the first time since Sánchez has governed that this sector has been below the 40% threshold.
Between the years 2021 and 2022, these trends were already observed, even if they are not as marked as today. So, for example, there has been a lot of talk about YouTubers and content creators who went to Andorra to pay less taxes (The Rubius announced that he was leaving for the Pyrenean country in January 2021) and a real social debate was generated on this subject.
Today, for example, liberal speeches seem more popular. This is how Spain is infected by debates like that relating to the figure of the Argentine president, Javier Milei, or by political options like that of Alvise Pérezwho called for tax evasion that same week. And the most relevant polls currently give seats to his party, The party is overin the event of elections.
Logically, an ideological difference can be detected in these dynamics. Voters from left-wing parties are the most likely to say that we should pay more taxes. PSOE and Sumar voters mainly focus on the value 0 in the table, although the Socialists are more distributed between more focused values.
In the case of the right, the preferred option of PP and Vox voters is 5, the golden mean. However, they lean towards a trend which prefers to pay less taxes, even if it means reducing public services. Those who are most concentrated around the value 10 are Vox voters.
About utilities
Along with the increase in the percentage of people preferring to pay less taxes, dissatisfaction with the functioning of public services is also increasing. Here, the government’s speech seems to have more impact: The welfare state is in danger and must be kept afloat.
The study on Public opinion and fiscal policy of the CIS reflects that dissatisfaction with public services is increasing in all cases posed to it: justice, assistance to dependent people, public works, health, education, pensions, social services, citizen security and public transport.
In the study, citizens are asked about their level of satisfaction, and it is understood that the most dissatisfied are those who answer that they are little or not at all satisfied, compared to those who are very or quite satisfied.
Since Sánchez’s arrival in government in 2018 and until the pandemic in 2020, the degree of dissatisfaction with public services has always been very high, although it has shown a downward trend in all cases, except in the area of citizen security.
With the pandemic and public demand as a guarantor of vaccination and medical care, satisfaction has increased significantly in the field of health and social services. Even in areas such as justice or citizen security, unrest was reduced, but because at that time they mattered less.
However, this trend is now considered broken and in all cases discontent is growing, even if each has its own particularities. The case of health care is the most remarkable. In 2023, 40.7% of citizens admitted feeling little or not at all satisfied with this service; in 2024, it increased to 48.9%. This is an increase of 8.2 points, the largest of all.
The perception of citizen security He also suffers. Dissatisfaction increased from 36% in 2023 to 42.9% in 2024: 6.9 points more.
