The International Press Institute (IPI) has published a new report examining pending media reforms in Spain and their alignment with the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA).
The 2026 country report is part of the Media Capture Monitoring Report, produced annually by IPI and our partner the Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC).
In the year to September 2026, Spain’s alignment with EMFA advanced on paper but not in practice. The two bills that would give effect to the Regulation have not been adopted.
The Draft Law on democratic governance in digital services and media regulation has been before Congress for more than a year. A new Public Sector Advertising Law was approved by the government at first reading in February 2026.
This is the third iteration of the Media Capture Monitoring Report, which covers eight European Union countries: Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Spain.
IPI and MJRC have announced a major expansion of the annual report series to all 27 EU Member States shortly, creating a new EMFA implementation monitor.
These reports are intended as a vital resource for media rights organizations, civil society groups, policymakers, and advocates dedicated to monitoring and fostering media freedom across the EU.
Each country assesses the four safeguards in the EMFA that bear most directly on media capture: the independence of public service media, the independence of media regulators, protection against the misuse of state funds to influence the media, and transparency of media ownership and safeguards for media pluralism.
The 2026 edition follows the EMFA’s first year of full application, from August 8, 2025. Written by national experts and edited by MJRC and IPI, the reports are deliberately short: they track what has changed since the 2025 baseline assessment and identify the problems that remain.
The project is part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and Candidate Countries. It is co-funded by the European Commission.
This report was coordinated by IPI and the MJRC as part of IPI’s work under the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and Candidate Countries.
