Public administration and governance : Spain, 2023

Overall, government effectiveness in Spain remained above average among the European Union Member States (EU‑27) but declined compared with 2019 (before COVID‑19). This composite index decreased from 1 in 2017 to 0.92 in 2022 and has not returned to pre-pandemic values. The index is also far from the scores achieved during the 1990s and 2000s, with a peak of 1.8. Several alternative accounts can explain this downward trend of service delivery perception. First, the online-by-default service provision has impacted swathes of the population who cannot interact electronically with the government despite the upward trend of interactions between 2016 and 2021, reaching 68.7 % of citizens. Furthermore, over one-third of the population does not have basic digital skills. Second, healthcare provision, which might fundamentally impact government effectiveness, is becoming an issue for many Spaniards. Since March 2020 it has been the third most important problem for the Spanish population, following the economic situation and unemployment. The rating of the quality of healthcare declined from 58 % of citizens who considered that the service provided was good/very good in 2018 to 50 % in 2022. This decreasing satisfaction is probably driven by a rapid increase in the number of people on the surgery waiting list, from 584 018 in 2018 to 819 964 in 2023. Finally, there might be a gap between expectations and satisfaction that the index fails to address. The pandemic has accelerated the further development of digital services, which may positively impact the citizens. Yet, the reduction of staff in some key areas like social security or healthcare, compared to the increasing demand, have affected the management of the services. While the possibility to secure an appointment online can be seen as positive, the prevalent issue for many services is the unavailability of spots in the public sector. Semi-automated intelligent systems replace human voices with little room for understanding key issues and displaying empathy. Yet, the digitalisation trend constitutes the main focus of government, as shown in Spain's Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) launched in June 2021.