Spain’s image in the international benchmark press during the politicalinstitutional crisis following the general elections of 20 December

Abstract

In 2016, Spain monopolized press coverage worldwide due to the political-institutional crisis caused by unprecedented electoral fragmentation. On January 13, the shortest legislative term ever began and was the starting point of a crisis that meant a year without government. This article explores the image that the world press provided regarding these events and their influence on international public opinion. This research is organized in two phases. The first measures the presence of Spain in the world's written press through an analysis of quantitative content. The second phase analyses the information on the political and institutional crisis using a sample of 1,127 articles published in 17 newspapers of reference. The main conclusion is that the world information on Spain in 2016 focused on the political crisis, but in addition to parliamentary deadlock, its causes and its consequences, other issues were emerging as central themes as well, such as the problem of corruption, the crisis of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party), and the independence movement in Catalonia. Despite this situation, the image of Spain does not seem to have deteriorated according to the country brand indexes reviewed.