People's Party Deepfake Ad Featuring Sánchez's Wife Reaches 2 Million Views

A political video generated with artificial intelligence reached nearly 2 million views by Friday, according to data cited in the story. The clip, released this week by Spain’s main opposition party, uses deepfake technology to imitate the voices and faces of figures associated with the ruling Socialist party.

The video features an AI-generated version of Begoña Gómez, the wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. In the footage, she discusses obtaining a university position due to her husband’s political role. A second segment features former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero speaking about hiding jewelry in a safe. Both references align with ongoing investigations, although Gómez and Zapatero have denied any wrongdoing.

Leire Díez, a former Socialist party member whose likeness appears in the video, filed a court complaint against the People’s Party on Friday. She requested the immediate removal of the advert and accused the party of defamation and digital identity theft. The complaint notes that the video uses her image to suggest she worked to undermine the judiciary and law enforcement to benefit her former party.

Digital transformation minister Óscar López criticized the tactic during an interview with broadcaster TVE. He described the video as telling a colossal lie and called it intolerable for a party to use it on official accounts. López pointed out that the text labeling the clip as AI-generated appeared in tiny, nearly transparent letters at the bottom of the screen, making it easy for viewers unfamiliar with the technology to mistake it for reality.

Legal experts consulted by El País generally believe the video is lawful. Most of the nine specialists agreed the clip is not illegal because it is labeled as AI-generated and maintains a satirical tone. Juan Antonio Lascuraín, a criminal law professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid, stated that legality is distinct from whether the content is ethically or politically appropriate. Íñigo Navarro, a former dean at Madrid’s Comillas Pontifical University, added that the context makes it clear the figures did not actually speak the lines.

José Javier Olivas, an associate professor at Spain’s National University for Distance Education, argued that the video crossed a red line. He described the situation as regrettable for a party claiming to want to revitalize democracy and classified the act of putting words in other people’s mouths as disinformation. He noted that both mainstream parties have been attacking their rivals’ morality, but this specific use of deepfakes escalated the conflict.

The People’s Party dismissed the criticism through party figure Borja Sémper. He stated that a problem exists only if the party intended to make people believe the characters were real. Sémper argued that the video uses digital tools to expose Socialist hypocrisy. Current polls indicate the party will win the general election on November 29 but will require support from the far-right Vox party to form a government.