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Spain's People's Party Posts AI Deepfake Ad of Socialist-Linked Figures; Complaint Filed, Guardian Reports

Bot Mutiny | October 23, 2026

Spain's main opposition party, the conservative People's Party (PP), is facing a legal complaint and a political backlash over an AI-generated campaign video that shows deepfake versions of figures linked to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialist party appearing to admit to wrongdoing, the Guardian reported on October 23, 2026. Spain holds a general election on November 29.

What the video shows

The ad was launched this week across the PP's social media channels. It used AI to manipulate the likenesses of various people linked to the Socialist party and appeared to show them admitting to acts such as soliciting prostitutes and taking kickbacks, the Guardian reported. An AI-generated version of Sánchez's wife, Begoña Gómez, speaks about receiving a university post thanks to her husband's job. A deepfake of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, a former Socialist head of government, speaks about hiding jewellery in a safe. The Guardian says both lines nod to ongoing investigations in which Gómez and Zapatero have denied any wrongdoing.

The video noted at the bottom, in tiny, nearly transparent font, that it had been created with AI. By Friday it had nearly 2 million views.

The government and a legal complaint

Óscar López, Spain's digital transformation minister in Sánchez's government, told the broadcaster TVE: "It's telling people a colossal lie, and for a party to do it on its official accounts seems intolerable to me." He added: "It's very easy for anyone who isn't used to AI to confuse that video with reality. And call me crazy, but that seems extremely serious to me."

On Friday, Leire Díez, a former Socialist party member whose likeness was used, filed a legal challenge calling on the PP to take down the advert immediately. In a court complaint she reportedly accused the PP of defamation and digital identity theft. The Guardian says the video used her likeness to hint at accusations that she worked to undermine judicial and law enforcement in order to help the Socialists.

The PP's response and the legal debate

Borja Sémper of the PP told reporters: "If there had been malicious intent to make people believe that the characters who appear there are real, then we'd have a problem. But everyone can see that this is a way of using digital tools to highlight the hypocrisy in which the Socialist party operates."

A majority of nine legal experts consulted by the newspaper El País concluded the video was not illegal, given that it was labelled as AI-generated and its overall tone was one of political satire, the Guardian reported. "Given the context, everyone knows those people didn't say those things," said Íñigo Navarro, a former dean of the law faculty at Madrid's Comillas Pontifical University. Juan Antonio Lascuraín, a professor of criminal law at the Autonomous University of Madrid, said legality was only one aspect: "It's quite another matter to ask whether it's appropriate, exemplary or ethically and politically correct."

José Javier Olivas, an associate professor at Spain's National University for Distance Education who researches populism, conspiracy theories and AI biases, called the video a "red line" in how campaigns normally unfold. "You're using the images of other people, putting words in their mouths that they're not saying, [and] this qualifies for disinformation," he said.

The same question in the United States

The Guardian notes that AI in political ads is also a talking point ahead of next month's U.S. midterm elections. A report by the Wesleyan Media Project identified more than 200 such ads, the vast majority tied to Republicans. "For comparison, we identified less than $50,000 in spending on AI-generated ads in the 2024 cycle," said co-director Erika Franklin Fowler. "Much of the AI use is not disclosed through any type of disclaimer."

Where the election stands

Most polls suggest the PP will win the November 29 election but will need the support of the far-right Vox party to form a government, the Guardian reported. The Guardian does not report whether a court will order the video removed.