Media Capture Monitoring Report: Spain 2025

Measuring EMFA Compliance: Can EMFA Capture-Proof the Spanish Media?

This page presents the 2025 Media Capture Monitoring Report: Spain, an annual assessment by the International Press Institute (IPI) and the Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC) that measures Spain’s compliance with the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) and identifies key media capture risks.

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Executive Summary

Spain has taken notable steps to align its media governance system with the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), but substantial structural weaknesses remain. The National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), Spain’s converged regulator, possesses formal legal independence under Law 3/2013 and Law 13/2022 (LGCA). However, its effective independence is constrained by political appointments, budgetary dependence, and insufficient resources for its expanding mandate under the Digital Services Act and EMFA.

Spain’s public service media (RTVE) continue to operate under a legal framework designed to ensure editorial and functional independence, but governance reforms over the last decade have produced persistent politicization of appointments, instability in RTVE’s governing bodies, and a funding system highly dependent on annual political negotiation. Eleven of the current fifteen board members have clear political ties, undermining independence in practice.

The misuse of state funds remains a systemic vulnerability. Spain’s 2005 Law on Institutional Advertising and Communication (LPCI) regulates institutional advertising but does not include clear safeguards to ensure pluralistic, transparent, and objective distribution of funds. Annual reports omit required information on beneficiaries, criteria, and amounts allocated to individual media outlets, making substantive oversight impossible.

Spain has partially implemented EMFA Article 6 through strong audiovisual-sector disclosure requirements and the State Register for audiovisual providers, but ownership transparency remains sector-specific. The press and digital-only outlets are outside the registry, and no system requires disclosure of beneficial owners or public-funding flows at outlet level. Beneficial ownership is accessible only via the Central Register (RCTR) on a legitimate-interest basis.

In terms of concentration control, Spain has functional safeguards under competition law and specific audiovisual structural limits, but it lacks a cross-cutting plurality test capable of evaluating mergers across all media markets, including online platforms, as required by EMFA Article 22.

Overall, Spain shows formal alignment with many EMFA provisions but remains substantively misaligned in areas relating to PSM governance, state-fund distribution, media-ownership transparency outside the audiovisual sector, and pluralism-focused merger assessment.

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Media capture mechanisms and safeguards

The table below summarises the key media capture mechanisms as well as the existence and enforcement of legal safeguards, and their alignment with the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) identified in the countries covered by the project. To see Spain, click on the respective country tab.

Questions & Answers

This section provides short, structured answers to key questions arising from the Spain 2025 Media Capture Monitoring Report. These entries support journalists, policymakers, researchers and educators who need fast, clear access to findings without reading the full report.

What is the core finding of the report?

Spain has strong formal legislation aligned with EMFA in some areas, but persistent politicization, opacity in state-funded advertising, and incomplete ownership-transparency frameworks prevent effective protection against media capture.

How independent is Spain’s media regulator (CNMC)?

Legally independent under Law 3/2013, the CNMC enjoys clear operational powers, but its effective independence is only partial due to budgetary constraints, politically mediated appointments, and limited resources relative to its EMFA and DSA responsibilities.

How are regulatory appointments carried out?

Members of the CNMC’s Council are appointed by Parliament following nominations by the government. Although the law emphasizes professional criteria, there is no independent selection body and appointments reflect political majorities rather than meritocratic procedures.

Does the CNMC have the resources needed to oversee EMFA compliance?

Currently no. The regulator itself has publicly requested additional staff and funding to meet its expanded obligations under EMFA and the Digital Services Act.

What is the situation of public service media (RTVE)?

RTVE is legally independent but politically influenced in practice. Board appointments remain politicized, financial dependence on annual state budgets creates instability, and governance reforms have produced recurrent internal crises.

Is public service media funding independent and predictable?

No. RTVE depends on annual political negotiations rather than a multi-year, protected funding model. The lack of updated Framework Mandates and Programme Contracts undermines transparency and predictability.

How transparent is state advertising?

Transparency is insufficient. The Annual Advertising and Communication Reports omit critical EMFA-required information, such as per-outlet allocations and criteria applied. Oversight is fragmented and largely ineffective.

How transparent is media ownership?

Partially transparent. Spain has a robust audiovisual register and the RCTR beneficial-ownership system, but press and digital-only media are excluded, and no outlet-level disclosure of beneficial owners or public funding is required.

Does Spain assess mergers for their impact on media pluralism?

Only partially. Structural limits apply in the audiovisual sector, and general merger control exists, but Spain lacks a universal plurality test, meaning that pluralism and editorial independence are not assessed across all markets.

What is the main systemic risk identified?

A combination of politicized governance of RTVE, opaque distribution of institutional advertising, and incomplete ownership transparency, particularly outside the audiovisual field.

What key reforms does the report recommend?

The report calls for the introduction of an independent appointment mechanism for CNMC and RTVE; the adoption of a multi-year, predictable funding model for PSM; the publication of per-outlet spending for all institutional advertising; extension of ownership-transparency obligations across all media sectors; and the creation of a cross-sector plurality test for media concentrations, including online.

Resources & Reference Materials

Citation

Rodríguez-Castro, M., Vaz-Álvarez, M., Fernández-Lombao, T., & Fieiras-Ceide, C. (2025). Media Capture Monitoring Report: Spain 2025. Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC): London/Tallinn/Santiago de Compostela. International Press Institute (IPI): Vienna.