This paper introduces a dual measure of public opinion over time. First focus on the saliency and how the arrival of the economic crisis has affected the electorates’ attention towards immigration. Afterwards it focus on the direction of electorates’ opinion and argues that despite the decline in saliency, attitudes have became more negative towards immigrants since the economic situation became more difficult. To do so, it calculates an immigration mood based on Stimson’s (1991) public mood. Finally it tries to asses, using these combined measures the way in which public opinion has evolved in Spain since the early 1990s. This paper uses data from the Centre for Sociological Research (CIS), the main public institution for public opinion in the country and addresses the problems in measuring public opinion as well as its changes through different socio-economic contexts.
