The Spanish government approves the limitation of institutional advertising in the media

MadridThe Spanish government has approved the draft bill that will regulate state-funded advertising in the media, establishing a limit of 35% of the net annual revenue of the media outlet or the group to which it belongs. According to the government, this new legislation aims to "prevent the economic survival of media outlets from depending on public funds." The new regulations affect traditional media such as newspapers, television, and radio, as well as digital platforms. The draft bill falls under the purview of the Ministry of Public Administration and Digital Transformation, headed by Óscar López (PSOE), who stated at a press conference on Tuesday that "public sector advertising plays an essential role in informing citizens, but it cannot be a means of buying media outlets." According to 2024 data, the advertising market in Spain is worth €13 billion, of which €2.7 billion is allocated to state-funded advertising.

The new regulations from the Ministry of Public Administration and Digital Transformation seek to transfer to the Spanish legal system the provisions provided for in the European regulation on media freedom, known by its acronym EMFA (European Media Freedom Act). The measure is one of the 31 reforms planned in the action plan for democracy launched by the Spanish government in September 2024.Regarding the 35% limit, López specified that the percentage refers to the sum of institutional advertising received from all public administrations. Therefore, if a media outlet already receives this percentage from one autonomous community, it will not be eligible for state advertising, for example. This rule will have one exception: media outlets and online platforms whose revenue does not exceed two million euros and whose audience is concentrated at least 70% in a maximum of three neighboring autonomous communities. All these conditions must be certified annually by an independent external agent. This clause aims to protect local media. The minister explained that the 35% cap was established after consulting various international reports and speaking with the sector. However, López argued that the percentage is almost "a matter of common sense" because having more than a third of its funding in public sources jeopardizes media independence. One of the requirements for accessing institutional advertising is that media outlets make their ownership public, a requirement in line with the transparency demanded by Europe in the media freedom regulation. Thus, the new regulation specifies that they "must make public their name, the names of the direct or indirect owners who hold shareholdings that allow them to exert influence over their operation, and the total annual amount of public funds allocated to them for state advertising." The new law also establishes that the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) will monitor the allocation of public sector advertising spending if the autonomous communities do not designate another competent independent authority. In any case, the regional regulatory authorities or bodies must submit their monitoring information to the CNMC. López pointed out that Catalonia is the only autonomous community that already makes its institutional advertising allocation public.

The Minister of Public Administration and Digital Transformation has pointed out that the first and only regulation of advertising dates back to 2005, a law that is still in force and does not reflect the current reality of the media. "In the last twenty years, the entire communications market has changed, and the entire advertising market has changed as well," stated López, who indicated that the draft bill gives greater prominence to digital media.