Seven out of ten Spaniards suspend the Government’s attempts to lower the price of electricity

The price of electricity continues to rise. None of the measures approved by the coalition government has managed, for the time being, to drastically lower the energy bill. The latest attempt announced by Pedro Sánchez, and which will be approved this Saturday in an extraordinary Council of Ministers, is a new reduction in VAT on electricity from 10% to 5%, although the Executive admits that it will not solve the problem of high prices. The situation is getting worse and, according to the latest barometer of the Gabinet d’ Estudis Socials i Opinió Pública (GESOP) for the newspapers of PRENSA IBÉRICA, seven out of ten Spaniards suspend the attempts by the Government to try to moderate the cost of Energy.

The survey, conducted between June 20 and 22, reveals that 42.3% of citizens They brand the Executive’s management as “very bad”, while 25.6% call it only “bad”. Neither the past tax cuts -VAT was lowered from 21% to 10% in 2021-, nor the suspension of other taxes or the implementation of the gas price cap at 40 euros have had the desired effect by the PSOE and United Can.

The citizenship blames the Executive for the ineffectiveness of the measures. Among the progressive electorate, more than 40% consider that the administration is being “bad” or “very bad”. Especially tough are the voters of the two coalition parties. Five out of ten socialist voters suspend the Government’s action, compared to 43% of those of United We Can. Optimism is also not contagious among the voters of Sánchez’s investiture partners: almost 70% of those interviewed who in 2019 favored ERC disapprove of the measures applied. Among the voters of the right-wing parties, the figure rises to 90%.

The VAT reduction that will be approved this Saturday does not seem to be going to lift the spirits of the Spanish either. The third vice president and minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, recognized last Thursday that “with fiscal measures the problem is not solved” and that “major structural changes” are necessary.

growing discouragement

Given the growing inflation, the Executive will also extend some of the measures put in place more than three months ago and will include some new proposals. However, in view of the results of this survey, the steps that the Executive has taken so far do not seem sufficient to curb the rise in prices. 55.9% of those interviewed rate the Government’s actions as “bad” or “very bad”, which means five more points of discontent with respect to the data obtained in February of this same year. Once again, socialist voters – three out of ten are inclined to suspend the Government – are more critical than those of United We Can – two out of ten disapprove of government actions – a figure that skyrockets among ERC voters up to 58.6%.

Added to this is the fact that 69.2% of the population shows pessimistic about the next two years. The outbreak of the war in Ukraine and its consequent effects on the economy, raising inflation to almost double figures, has caused discouragement in society. In the February GESOP survey, when the coronavirus pandemic seemed to begin to subside and economic expectations were more positive, 41.6% claimed to be optimistic about the future, a figure that now falls to 24.6%.

Promote new measures

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The discouragement of the population, both with the current situation and with the government’s actions, was reflected in the Andalusian elections last weekend with an absolute majority of the PP and with the PSOE at historical lows. In an attempt to reverse the situation and try to make it clear that he has reacted to the notice at the polls, Sánchez brought the Council of Ministers forward to this Saturday to approve the royal decree with measures to deal with the crisis arising from the war orchestrated by Russia. For the moment, only the VAT reduction has transpired and that the bonus of 20 cents will remain in force per liter of gasoline.

47.6% of those surveyed consider that this reduction should be kept as it is. That is, it applied to everyone equally. However, a third of the population bets because it goes based on income to benefit the most vulnerable. The second vice president and leader of United We Can, Yolanda Díaz, has been raising the debate on proportionality according to income for days and, in addition, has put on the table the option of reducing transport passes to 50%, something that continues to be negotiated with the socialists and that could be included in the royal decree. Only 11% of those interviewed asked to eliminate this reduction.