by the commentator on 19 May 2014 15:00

In the latest indication of growing disillusionment with the European project, a new poll in Spain predicts a record low turnout in this week's European elections in Spain, a country with massive unemployment problems.

On the same day that official figures showed that only 58.2 percent of people aged 20 to 64 had a job in 2013 -- the third worst employment rate in the EU after Croatia 53.9 and Greece 53.2 -- El Pais reported that turnout at the European elections would be as low as 43 percent, a record for the country.

According to Spain's English language news outlet, the Local, which carried the above mentioned reports, less than two weeks ago another poll suggested turnout would be 64 percent.

The Local said:

"Spanish turnout in European elections hit a high in 1987 when nearly 69 percent of voters exercised their democratic right at the polls. By the 2000s, however, this rate had dropped to just 46 percent."

This mirrors a trend across Europe where turnout has steadily fallen over the last two decades. Analysts say that Spanish and other voters in Europe feel no sense of identity with the Brussels experiment, and either refuse to vote or increasingly turn to eurosceptic parties to express their dissatisfaction.

Spain has suffered terribly due to its adoption of the euro which caused a massive housing boom in the last decade and an even bigger bust. It is now saddled with the euro which is far too strong for its economic fundamentals, prolonging and deeping its economic malaise, serious economists say.