These findings are some of the conclusions of the study “Perception of Spain in the U.S.”, conducted by the communications consultancy LLYC, which was supported by the Leading Brands of Spain Forum and ICEX Spain Export and Investment.
The study, which analysed more than 83 million interactions in Spanish and English on social networks in the United States over the last five years, reveals, in general, a positive confidence towards Spain.
The analysis carried out by LLYC, formerly Llorente & Cuenca, a consultancy specialising in reputation management, found that the American public with the greatest affection for Spain is found in the states of California, Florida, Texas and New York.
Rafael Nadal, José Andrés, Amancio Ortega, football and the pilgrimage through the north of the country that ends in the Galician city of Santiago de Compostela are the Spanish references most frequently mentioned in conversations on US social networks when talking about Spain.
The study highlights that sport, mainly football, has become one of the most iconic brands for Spain, as conversation levels around the national league championship of that sport reached 1.1 million mentions, driven by the main matches of the championship.
In addition, tennis player Rafael Nadal reached levels of up to 3.3 million mentions, boosted by his participation in the 2022 Grand Slam events - with two titles, in Australia and France - although he did not manage to win this year’s US Open, which was won by another Spaniard, Carlos Alcaraz from Murcia.
According to the study, the country brand Spain is gaining more and more prominence in the conversations of the American community.
Beyond sport, which is the most common topic or protagonist of conversations in English, the Spain brand is also associated with content such as art, digitalisation, gastronomy and tourism.
Americans are also interested in current affairs such as health, the economy or Spanish politics, although to a lesser extent.
This year United Airlines operated direct flights from New York to Palma during the summer and the service will be repeated next year after its great success.
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Rafa seems like a decent chap, and it's understandable that his image would be positive. But what's with the infatuation with this one flight from New York? While it's success validates increased interest from Americans (and nothing wrong with that), it's hardly the reason for it. It's only one route out of hundreds.