Over half of Gran Canaria's university students distrust political system

In the islands of Gran Canaria, more than half of the young people sitting in university classrooms have stopped believing in the political system. A study of 800 students between 17 and 25 years old—drawn from the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, private universities, and advanced vocational programs—found that 51.6 percent of them express distrust in how politics works. Only 14.9 percent say they have confidence. The gap widens when you separate by gender: nearly half of the men surveyed (48.3 percent) are skeptical, compared to just over a third of the women (36.4 percent).

The research, conducted by the university's Social Council and the organization Democracia Canarias XXI, asked these young people why they felt this way. The answers were consistent and specific. They believe politicians lie and break their promises. They see corruption everywhere. They watch the system malfunction. They sense that leaders care only about themselves. They do not feel represented. They find no transparency. These are not abstract complaints—they are the lived experience of a generation that has never known stability.

Yet the distrust runs deeper than anger at individual politicians. When researchers probed the emotional connection these young people felt toward democracy itself, they found what one official called "a profound disconnection." Only 16.8 percent—roughly one in six—felt any real affinity with the democratic system. Nearly half (45.7 percent) said they felt clearly disconnected. Another 37.3 percent were neutral, neither drawn to it nor repelled. Among those with negative views, 77.4 percent blamed the way democracy actually functions in Spain right now.

What makes this finding complicated is what comes next. Despite their disaffection with politics as it exists, these young people have not abandoned democratic values. They reject authoritarianism. They want more say in decisions that affect them. Three-quarters of them (73.5 percent) prefer direct voting on issues to the traditional system where they elect representatives to decide for them. They are not cynics who have given up on democracy. They are people who believe democracy should work differently than it does.

On questions of how the state should function, the young people surveyed showed strong convictions. Three-quarters believe the government has a responsibility to ensure everyone's wellbeing, not just the poorest. Nearly two-thirds support active state intervention to reduce inequality—though this support splits along gender lines, with women backing it at 75.1 percent and men at 50.6 percent. Only 12.4 percent embrace free-market economics. They want a state that works efficiently, that provides real services, that taxes people fairly to pay for those services. The pandemic shaped this view: they watched public health systems save lives, watched governments protect their parents' jobs and businesses, and they drew conclusions about what government should do.

The study also revealed sharp differences in how young men and women see feminism. Seventy-one percent of women support the movement; only 41 percent of men do. But the men are not uniformly opposed—many simply believe feminism has gone too far in some areas. This perception tracks with their political leanings: women in the survey tend toward the left and progressive positions, while men drift toward the far right. On abortion, there is broad agreement: only 3.1 percent reject it.

When asked what keeps them awake at night, the young people in Gran Canaria named three things: housing, jobs, and healthcare. Seventy-two percent worry about housing now; 76.9 percent see it as a future problem. Two-thirds are anxious about youth unemployment and job quality. They are a generation born into one crisis after another, with no memory of solid ground. On immigration, their views are pragmatic rather than ideological: 55 percent want restrictions based on Spain's economic conditions, more than 30 percent would allow it with conditions, and nearly 20 percent believe it should be unrestricted. One researcher noted this is not racism but "aporophobia"—a kind of contempt for the poor, since the migrants they see on the street lack money and status.

The portrait that emerges is of young people trapped between conviction and despair. They believe in democracy, in fairness, in the state's obligation to care for its people. But they have watched the system fail to deliver on these principles. They do not trust the people running it. They want to participate more directly, to have real power over decisions. They are not apathetic—36.7 percent show low political interest, but 29.7 percent show high interest, and 33.8 percent participate occasionally. They are engaged but disillusioned, committed to values but skeptical of institutions. What happens next depends on whether the system can change fast enough to meet them.