On May 22nd, the internationally acclaimed Real Instituto Elcano announced that the Spanish image, “branding”, was moving in the right direction. The institute has awarded the sunshine, gastronomy and athletes more value than the economy and investments as a whole.
More people are viewing Spain as a tourist destination rather than an economical crisis-ridden country.
The Germans, British and French associate Spain primarily with sunshine; the Italians, Chileans, Chinese, Japanese and Turks associate the country with bull fighting. Spanish cities, flamenco and football also form part of the collective image.
The Elcano Institute picked up on the fact that Spain continues to distance itself from the image of being “poor”, which in 2015 many Europeans considered Spain to be due to the crisis. Despite this fact, 63% of Germans and French citizens still define Spain in this way, while the British and Italians are divided 50/50 in their perception.