Spanish media reports that the Russian authorities were suspected of quietly supporting the illegal Catalan independence referendum on October 1, 2017, but that the Spaniards did not view Russia as a threat until the invasion of Ukraine.
Cadena radio station SER recalls a survey published this spring by the Royal Elcano Institute (RIE) in Madrid, which stated that the Russian invasion of Ukraine had greatly increased the fear of Russia in Spanish society.
RIE, which deals with international issues, indicated that while in November 2021, Russia was identified as a potential threat to Spain by 5% of respondents. The population of this country surveyed, in June 2022 there were 52 percent of them.
“This is a radical shift in our historical perspective,” said Charles Powell, president of the Spanish Institute.
