Spain’s influencer rules and 2026 ad changes
Spain treats its largest creators as audiovisual service providers. Royal Decree 444/2024 sets the thresholds for “users of special relevance” under the General Audiovisual Communication Law, and those creators must register in the state register and follow advertising and minor-protection rules. Autocontrol updated its code of conduct on advertising through influencers, in force since October 2025. EU rules on political advertising and AI-generated content apply too.
Executive findings
- 1
Royal Decree 444/2024 of 30 April 2024 sets the requirements for being considered a user of special relevance on video-sharing platforms, under Article 94 of Law 13/2022.
Documented: official source. Scope: Spain; Boletín Oficial del Estado, as of . [1]
- 2
Users of special relevance must register in the state register provided for in Article 39 of Law 13/2022.
Documented: official source. Scope: Spain; Boletín Oficial del Estado, as of . [1]
- 3
Autocontrol amended its code of conduct on advertising through influencers, which came into force in October 2025.
Secondary source. Scope: Spain; European Audiovisual Observatory, as of . [2]
- 4
Regulation (EU) 2024/900 on political advertising has applied since 10 October 2025, including a ban on political ads from non-EU sponsors in the three months before an election or referendum.
Documented: official source. Scope: European Union; EUR-Lex summary, as of . [3]
- 5
AI Act transparency duties under Article 50 have applied since 2 August 2026; deepfakes and AI-generated public-interest text must be labelled unless a person has reviewed it and holds editorial responsibility.
Documented: official source. Scope: European Union; European Commission FAQ, as of . [5]
Method and limitations
- Question
- Which Spanish and EU rules change creator and paid media campaigns in Spain in 2026?
- Written for
- Marketing leads and agencies buying media in Spain.
- Decision at stake
- What to change in Spain media plans, creative and data set-up in 2026.
- Sources
- Royal Decree 444/2024 in the Boletín Oficial del Estado and the European Audiovisual Observatory report on Autocontrol’s updated code. EU sources: EUR-Lex summary of Regulation (EU) 2024/900, Meta’s announcement on EU political ads, and European Commission material on Article 50 of the AI Act.
- Period
- Official and legal sources as published and opened on 18 October 2026.
- Markets
- Spain, within the EU framework.
- Definitions
- User of special relevance: a creator on a video-sharing platform who meets the thresholds in Royal Decree 444/2024.
- Limitations
- We did not reproduce the numeric thresholds; check them in the decree.
- This is not legal or tax advice. Confirm obligations for your business with qualified counsel in the market.
Users of special relevance
Documented: official source
Law 13/2022 extends some obligations of audiovisual service providers to creators on video-sharing platforms who meet set thresholds. Royal Decree 444/2024 defines those thresholds, drawing on recommendations from ERGA, the European regulators’ group. Creators who qualify must register and follow the law’s rules on commercial communications and the protection of minors.
Self-regulation: Autocontrol’s code
Secondary source
Autocontrol, Spain’s advertising self-regulation body, updated its code of conduct on advertising through influencers, in force from October 2025, as part of the co-regulation the audiovisual law encourages.
Political and social issue ads: EU rules and platform exits
Documented: official source
Regulation (EU) 2024/900 on the transparency and targeting of political advertising has applied since 10 October 2025 and covers Spain. It also bars political advertising from sponsors outside the EU in the three months before an election or referendum.
Meta responded by ending political, electoral and social issue ads in the EU. Its newsroom update says these ads stopped being delivered on 6 October 2025. Social issue ads are a wider category than election ads, so charities, campaign groups and brands running cause-led messages in Spain need a route that does not depend on Meta's political ad products.
AI-generated creative: labelling from 2 August 2026
Documented: official source
Article 50 of the EU AI Act has applied since 2 August 2026. Deepfakes, and AI-generated or AI-manipulated text published to inform the public on matters of public interest, must be labelled unless a person has reviewed the text and holds editorial responsibility. Providers of generative AI systems that were already on the market have until 2 December 2026 for the machine-readable marking duty.
The Commission published a voluntary Code of Practice on marking and labelling AI-generated content on 10 June 2026, including optional icons that deployers can use. For advertisers the practical step is a creative log: which assets were generated or altered with AI, who reviewed them, and where a label appears.
Where we see opportunity
FOCUSADS view
Registered creators work under clear rules, which makes them safer partners for brands with compliance teams. Brands can run creator content as paid partnership ads so disclosure, targeting and reporting stay consistent.
How FOCUSADS applies this
FOCUSADS view
Spain plans run a policy screen per channel before budget is allocated: political and social issue messaging, regulated categories and AI-generated creative are checked first, and channels that cannot carry the message are removed with the reason shown.
How this connects to our method: How FOCUSADS screens channels by market
References
- Real Decreto 444/2024, de 30 de abril (usuarios de especial relevancia), Boletín Oficial del Estado, accessed
- [ES] New code of conduct for influencers by Autocontrol (IRIS 2025-9:1/5), European Audiovisual Observatory, accessed
- Summary of Regulation (EU) 2024/900 on the transparency and targeting of political advertising, EUR-Lex (European Union), accessed
- Ending political, electoral and social issue advertising in the EU in response to incoming European regulation, Meta Newsroom, accessed
- Transparency obligations under Article 50 of the AI Act, European Commission, Shaping Europe’s digital future, accessed
- Commission publishes Code of Practice on marking and labelling AI-generated content, European Commission press corner, accessed