El impacto de los sucesos imprevistos en la imagen pública de los gobiernos españoles

This article analyzes the impact on government approval of the governmental management of unexpected events (such as natural disasters, terrorist attacks or scandals). Through an in depth review of the literature, and based upon data from the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (the Spanish National Institute for Public Opinion Analysis), as well as upon data from the National Institute on Statistics, this research shows that Spanish citizens, when assessing the central government, take into account how the government performs at specific unexpected events; it also shows that party allegiances do not hold the key to explain these assessments. This article also draws on some practical consequences for government communication.