Who Are The Two Spains? Attitudes And Lifestyle Cleavages In Contemporary Spain

This article revisits the idea of “the two Spains” through the lens of lifestyle-based social sorting. Drawing on an original survey of 3,015 respondents conducted in June 2024, it examines how political identities are embedded in cultural practices. Using statistical techniques for dimension reduction and clustering, the study identifies two dominant lifestyle formations—Progressives and Conservatives—that mirror Spain’s main ideological cleavage. These groups diverge not only in moral and political orientations, but also in cultural engagement, leisure activities, mobility, and attitudes toward minorities, underscoring the social embeddedness of political conflict. A secondary analysis further disaggregates this divide into four clusters—Progs, Tepids, Moderates, and Disengaged which capture heterogeneity in cultural participation, political alignment, and daily practices. Extending lifestyle polarization research into a multiparty European context, the article contributes to political and cultural sociology by showing that divisions in Spain are increasingly lived through routine behaviors and cultural tastes.