Aversion to Migrants

The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive for the UK business daily, showed that 47 percent of Britons believe that migrant workers within the European Union had been negative for the country's economy, compared to 24 percent of Spaniards who held similar views.

Some 76 percent of British respondents also said they wanted tighter border controls, and 66 percent said there were "too many foreigners" in Britain, both of which were higher than their European counterparts in Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

Open doors

Britain and two other EU members -- Ireland and Sweden -- opened their labor markets unreservedly to workers from the eight former communist countries that joined the bloc in 2004. Spain and Italy subsequently dropped the restrictions they had introduced, while France and Germany still require citizens of the new member states to apply for permission to work there.

According to the poll, Spain is the most popular destination for European migrants, followed by the UK. The UK is also seen as having the healthiest economy along with Germany.

Among the respondents in the five countries, the French were the least interested in working in another country, in spite of the fact that 73 percent of French respondents said life was getting worse, behind only Italy. Italians were most keen on working abroad, followed by Germans.

Spaniards were the most optimistic among any of their counterparts in the four other EU countries that their lives were getting better.

Harris Interactive questioned 6,561 people in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States.