La imagen de Europa en los espots electorales en España. Elecciones al parlamento europeo. 1987-2004

Abstract

Electoral propaganda is a privileged element for the construction of persuasive ideas and is therefore a field where the principal strategies for winning votes are developed. This article analyses the evolution of the image of Europe through the televised electoral propaganda of the main Spanish political parties between 1987 and 2004. For this purpose a rhetorical-argumentative methodology is applied. The main conclusion is that the parties do not construct a specific image of Europe, but instead the latter appears as a subsidiary instance of Spain, as an instrument for demonstrating management capacities or as a place where internal problems can be solved.