Spaniards see illegal immigration as the main threat their country faces — deeming it a more important matter than international conflicts and the economy, a study published by the Spanish market research firm Gad3 revealed.
Spanish outlets reported on Thursday that the study, titled “Second Barometer on Security and Defense,” was conducted by Gad3 for Tedae, the Spanish Association of Defense, Security, Aeronautics, and Space Technology Companies. Per Tedae, the study sought to identify the Spanish population’s standing on security-related affairs for their country.
The study found that 28 percent of respondents find illegal migration and the pressure it inflicts upon its borders as the main threat for Spain’s security and defense. Tied in second place, with 23 percent each, is international conflicts and geopolitical tensions, alongside economic and inflationary crises stemming from the global context.
The stern concern expressed by respondents on the threats that illegal migration poses to Spain notably differs from claims made by the Spanish socialist government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. The Spanish newspaper ABC reported in mid-May that the Spanish government’s Department of National Security deemed illegal immigration as the “ninth” topmost national security risk for Spain in a new annual report, “dropping” it from the third top position that illegal migration reportedly held in the official government rankings since 2023.
In contrast to the Spanish government’s claims, other independent studies published this year have emphatically warned that Spain is one of the E.U. members that has experience a noticeable surge in migrant population over the past years. According to a study published Centre for Research and Analysis on Migration at RFBerlin, Spain alone accounted for approximately a third of the E.U’s entire foreign-born population growth during 2025 — the same year Spain added some 700,000 more foreign born residents.
Adding to Spain’s already dramatic mass migration situation, the Spanish socialist government is presently continuing to execute its widely rejected mass amnesty plan that seeks to give 500,000 illegal migrants.
The results expressed in Gad3’s study reflect similar concerns and rejection of mass migration expressed by Spanish youth respondends in a study published in April by the Spanish non-profit organization Fundacion SM. The non-profit organization found at the time that as many as 61.7 percent of Spanish aged between 15-24 find mass migration to have led to a growth in delinquency in their country — with 65.5 percent expressing that they perceive that “there are too many migrants” in Spain.
Gad3’s survey also inquired its respondents on how well do they consider that NATO, the E.U. and Spain are ready to face security challenges. While 55 percent said they believe in NATO’s readiness and 51 percent did so for the European Union, only a third of Spanish citizens believe that their country is presently capable of facing its security and defense-related challenges. 52 percent expressed to support a 2 percent GDP defense spending goal for Spain.
In that same line, six out of ten respondents expressed their support to the idea that the European Union needs to step up and develop greater security autonomy to rely less on others for its own defense.
“The study conducted by GAD3 confirms that Spanish society increasingly views security and defense from a broad and strategic perspective,” Tedae President Ricardo Martí Fluxá said, per the institution.
“The public recognizes the importance of strengthening our industrial, technological, and energy capabilities, as well as the need to move toward greater European strategic autonomy in an increasingly complex international environment,” he continued.