A Spanish government agency poll shows the popularity of the Spanish monarchy has plunged to an unprecedentedly low level following recent scandals involving royal family members. Spain’s Center for Sociological Research published on Friday its April survey rating of the monarchy at 36.8 percent, down from 48.9 percent in October 2011, when the latest census was taken.
The poll asked 2,482 Spaniards to rate the royal family on a scale of zero to 10. The royal family, including King Juan Carlos, his daughter Princess Cristina and her husband Inaki Urdangarin, has been recently hit by various cases of social and financial scandals.
Carlos’ credibility slumped after he went on a luxurious elephant-hunting safari last year, while ordinary Spaniards are struggling with a severe economic crisis.
Cristina and Urdangarin have both been named in a corruption case in which the husband is accused of embezzling millions of euros of public funds paid in contracts to a company he managed several years ago.
According to another recent government poll, Spaniards consider corruption as the second biggest problem in the country after unemployment. Spain’s economy collapsed into recession in the second half of 2008, which has taken with it millions of jobs.
I – Word Understanding
Poll – record an opinion or vote
Plunged – fall suddenly and uncontrollably
Unprecedentedly – having no previous example
Scandals – a publicized incident that brings about disgrace or offends the moral sensibilities of society
Credibility – the quality of being trusted
Slumped – fall heavily
Luxurious – lavish or deluxe
Struggling – engaged with a problem
Corruption – dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power
Embezzling – to take (money, for example) for one’s own use in violation of a trust
Spaniards – native or inhabitant of Spain
Recession – a period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced
II – Have your say
A. Facts about Royal Families all over the world
1.Remembering the fact that the Royal Wedding is a must-be-luxurious and memorable wedding, it is predicted that the Royal Family and Middleton will spend about 50 million pounds for the total wedding cost.
2.At the present, Dutch royal family is believed to be the nicest royal family in the whole world.
B. The Top Three World’s Wealthiest Royal Families
1.Prince Albert II of Monaco – His net worth is 1.4 billion US$. He is the first head of state to have visited the North Pole
2.King Mohammad VI of Morroco – The 46-year-old Moroccan king has asset strength of 1.5 billion US$.
3.Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid of Dubai – has a net worth of $4.5 billion.
