Spaniards fear war with Morocco

The results of the study indicate that 66.2% of Spaniards consider the involvement of their country in an armed conflict in the coming years to be possible. In this hypothesis, 42.2% of the respondents identify Morocco as the likely adversary, placing it after Russia (57%) but ahead of the United States (30.2%).

Concretely, this means that nearly one in four Spaniards considers a war with the southern neighbor to be conceivable. This fear of a bellicose scenario is part of a broader context of global pessimism, where a majority of the population perceives the world as uncertain and fractured, placing conflicts ahead of health or the economy in the hierarchy of their fears.

A structural mistrust confirmed by other studies

This perception is in line with the conclusions of the latest barometer of the Elcano Institute, which notes a low level of sympathy towards Morocco (4.6 out of 10) and identifies irregular immigration as a major concern. According to this other survey, the Kingdom is cited as a threat by 55% of respondents, far ahead of Algeria.

This persistent distrust is explained by a complex social substrate including the issue of Ceuta and Melilla, past migration crises, and the sensitivity of Spanish public opinion towards Western Sahara. Faced with this perceived climate of insecurity, 57% of Spaniards say they are in favor of increased European investment in defense.