31.3 Overall Score (down 14.5 since Aug 1st.)

Spain

  • 4.3 Public Health
    Directives
  • 9.5 Financial
    Response
  • 80 Fact-Based
    Communication
  • 4.3 Public Health
    Directives
  • 9.5 Financial
    Response
  • 80 Fact-Based
    Communication

Spain's score jumped since January to just over the median, having implemented stricter public health policies, but the country's minimal stimulus support still drags down its overall score.

Pre-COVID Conditions

Spain did well in most subcategories, but its low number of hospital beds likely played a large role in officials struggling with the COVID-19 case spike, bringing its score down.

  • Debt/GDP ratio 97.1%
  • GDP/capita $43,008
  • Gini coefficient (out of 100) 34.7
  • Infant mortality rate (out of 1,000 live births) 3
  • Healthcare access score (out of 100) 89.6
  • Hospital beds/1,000 People 21.2

Government Response

Select a data point for more information
(Data points represent policy level as of Mar 15.)
4.3

Public Health Directives

Spain worsened its public health policy since January with a loosening of restrictions and poor testing policy, despite many cases.

  • Stay at home order 2
  • Public gathering restrictions 4
  • School closings 1
  • Public event cancellations 2
  • Testing policy 2
  • Emergency healthcare investments/capita $90.04
  • Travel restrictions 3
  • Tests/1,000 people 744
  • Contact tracing 1
9.5

Financial Response

Spain's financial response score fell substantially since the last period as the government cut financial support despite having persistently high case rates.

  • Financial stimulus as share of GDP 0.4%
  • Income support 2
  • Debt forebearance 2
80

Fact-Based Communication

Spain’s government has been relatively strong in this category, as it has not engaged in misinformation, but it has limited the media’s access to information regarding COVID-19.

  • Reliance on science/fact based information 0
  • Press freedom 1

COVID-19 Status as of Mar 15

Spain scores relatively strongly in this category, as case and death rates are relatively low.

  • Total deaths 4,870
  • Death rate per 100K 104.2
  • Total cases 3,195,062
  • Cases per 100K 141
  • Percent of positive tests 4.9
  • Change in positivity rates -2.2
Case Trend Line
Daily cases Level 1 Lockdown Level 2 Lockdown
Date Status New Cases/1M
1 May 26 Schools, theaters, and exhibitions partially reopen 18.37
2 Jun 10 Bars and restaurants reopen 6.72
3 Aug 14 Nightclubs close, outdoor consumption of alcohol is banned, and bars and restaurants must close by 1 am 117.19
4 Sep 21 Begin localized lockdowns in parts of Madrid 672.19
5 Oct 25 New state of emergency declared 0.00
6 Oct 28 Reimpose restrictions on sports events and gatherings 422.74

Differentiating Factors

  • Government unaware of Sputnik V deal: Despite Moscow's sovereign wealth fund announcing in March that it had made deals with Spain, Germany, Italy, and France to domestically manufacture the Sputnik V vaccine, the Spanish government reportedly has no knowledge of such a deal. The European Medicines Agency has not yet approved the vaccine for use in the EU. Read More
  • Spain embraces vaccine passports: The Spanish tourism minister has said that Spain could start allowing tourists with so-called "vaccination passports" into the country as early as mid-May, depending on the progress of the pandemic. Read More
  • Spain aims for two-thirds vaccination by summer 2021: Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa announced that the country's vaccination program will start in January and aim to reach over two-thirds of the population of 47 million by summer, achieving some level of herd immunity. Read More
  • Barcelona charity throws concert to test COVID screenings: The Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation threw a concert in partnership with Barcelona's Primavera Sound festival in mid-December to test the effectiveness of rapid screening to hold cultural events safely. Five hundred people were selected to take an antigen screening test and then attend a five-hour concert, wearing facemasks. Read More
  • Pandemic-denier arrested: The Spanish police arrested a COVID-19 denier for using fake social media accounts to claim health professionals and the media were behind a "COVID farce" and urging followers to attack politicians. Read More
  • Spaniards divided over government response: New polling by Pew Research Center finds that Spain is divided over the government's coronavirus response, with 47 percent of respondents saying their country has done a bad job of dealing with the outbreak, and 53 percent saying the response has been good. Read More
  • Government's minimum-income policy preventing layoffs: The government has introduced a guaranteed minimum income scheme which pays up to 70 percent of salaries and is currently supporting 2 million workers. Spain's Labor Minister announced the extension of this scheme into 2021, to avoid a cliff edge scenario in which millions are suddenly laid off when the scheme ends. Read More
Compared with EU Neighbors
  • 72.5
    France 4,138,345
    Cases     262
    Per 1M     24,105
    Deaths

    France maintained its improved public health policy from the early fall, keeping its score relatively strong, although poor contact tracing and a relatively small stimulus package kept it from being higher.

  • 61
    Germany 2,585,385
    Cases     209
    Per 1M     10,229
    Deaths

    Germany has improved its score a bit in the past few months, after a sharp decline in the fall. Its improvements in contact tracing, which are already likely underestimated in the data, and restrictions on public gatherings, have played important roles in this turnaround, although there has been a recent spike in cases, likely due to both recent restriction relaxations and vaccine rollout issues.

  • 48.6
    Italy 3,238,394
    Cases     342
    Per 1M     22,432
    Deaths

    While hit hard by COVID-19, Italy’s reliance on facts and improved contact tracing has helped slow the spread and slightly improved its overall score since January.

Further Reading From Foreign Policy

Be the source of actionable insight.

Select one of the subscription options below to read the full Covid-19 Global Response Index. Unlock even more global intelligence with a subscription to FP Insider.

Already an FP Insider?

Best Value

One-Year All Access
FP Insider

$450

1-year of full access to FP Insider exclusive content and subscription benefits

See benefits  ▾

  • All FP Analytics Special Reports, including the COVID-19 Global Response Index
  • FP Analytics Power Maps
  • Editorial conference calls
  • Unlimited articles on ForeignPolicy.com
  • Digital and print editions of FP’s award-winning magazine
  • Print archive, containing 50 years of FP journalism
  • Subscriber-only newsletters
  • Security and defense news alerts
  • Bonus episodes of FP podcasts
  • FP mobile app

❌ Hide benefits

 

One-Month
COVID-19 Report Bundle

$150

30-day Access to the COVID-19 Global Response Index and Global Race to Vaccinate report

Looking for group access? Contact us directly

New Zealand

Statistics and government response factors available on each country profile include:

Pre-COVID Conditions:

  • Debt to GDP ratio
  • Infant mortality rates
  • Hospital beds per 1,000 people
  • Gini coefficients measuring inequality
  • Health access and quality

COVID-19 Public Health Directives:

  • Stay-at home orders
  • School-closing policy
  • Public-gathering restrictions
  • Cancellation of public events
  • Testing policy and rates per 1,000 people
  • Emergency healthcare spending per capita
  • Travel restrictions
  • Contact tracing

COVID-19 Financial Response:

  • Stimulus package as a share of GDP
  • Income support
  • Debt-forbearance

Public Communications:

  • Instances of misinformation by leadership
  • Limitations on press freedom, censorship

Current/Historic In-Country COVID-19 Status:

  • Death rates per 1 million
  • Case rates per 1 million