The Senate has given the go-ahead to the animal welfare law on Wednesday, another of the recent government regulations that were born surrounded by criticism and that have stressed the coalition partners. A division that is also reflected among citizens. According to the Barometer of Spain of the Gabinet d’Estudis Socials i Opinió Pública (GESOP) for the Prensa Ibérica group, almost half of Spaniards (49.7%) support the new regulation for the protection of animals, but one in four interviewees (38.8%) is against. Of all the latest measures of the Executive for which the GESOP has asked, the animal welfare law is the one that causes the most division of opinions in most segments of the population.
among the youngest support for the law predominates (68.2% vs. 23.8%), which gradually fades as age increases. The difference is only five points in favor of ‘yes’ in the 45 to 59 age group, and four points in favor of ‘no’ from 60 years of age. In both sexes there is a majority of favorable opinions, but the division is much more accentuated among men (45.7% of ‘yes’ compared to 42.8% of ‘no’) than among women (53.5% of ‘ yes’ compared to 35.1% of ‘no’).
By electorates, the rejection of the law dominates among voters of Vox, PP and Ciudadanos, while support is majority among voters of all left-wing formations. Only in the case of the PSOE is a certain division perceived: 55.3% of socialist voters defend the norm and 30.2% disagree. In the case of supporters of Más País, who support animal regulation by 61.6%, it is striking that one in four (25.9%) avoid speaking out.
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The results by size of municipality and by autonomous communities they also draw large differences depending on the territory, and it can be observed how in areas with a greater rural weight there is more opposition to the regulations. In towns with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants there is a 45% tie between supporters and opponents of the law. In the rest of the towns, the percentage of support is around 50% and that of rejection is around 36%.
By autonomies, there is a clear opposition in the two Castillas (53.8% against 35.9%) and overwhelming support in Catalonia (65.8% against 19.5%) and the Canary Islands (69.7% against 23, 5%). In the other communities, the differences are narrower, in favor of ‘yes’ in Andalusia, Galicia, the Basque Country and the Valencian Community, and in favor of ‘no’ in Madrid and the rest of Spain.
Data sheet
-Responsible company: GESOP.
-Investigation technique: Telephone interviews.
-Area of study: Spain.
-Population: Adults with the right to vote.
-Sample: 1,002 interviews.
-Type of sampling: Proportional by autonomous community and size of municipality. Selection of the person to interview according to cross quotas of sex and age.
-Margin of error: +/- 3.10% for a confidence level of 95% and p=q=0.5.
-Field work: From February 27 to March 1, 2023.