Spanish Opposition Unveils Deepfake Video of Prime Minister's Wife

The People's Party posted a video on social media this week that shows the wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez discussing her university career.

The clip uses artificial intelligence to imitate the voices and faces of several figures linked to the Socialist party. In one segment, an AI-generated Begoña Gómez states she obtained a university post because of her husband's job. Another part features a deepfake of former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero speaking about hiding jewelry in a safe. Both individuals have denied wrongdoing, and ongoing investigations cover the specific matters raised in the ad.

By Friday, the video had accumulated nearly 2 million views. Óscar López, the digital transformation minister, told TVE that the party is telling a colossal lie on its official accounts. He pointed out that the AI label appeared at the bottom of the screen in tiny, nearly transparent text, creating a risk that viewers unfamiliar with the technology would mistake the clip for reality.

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

Legal experts consulted by El País largely sided with the opposition. Nine specialists agreed the video was not illegal because it was labeled as AI-generated and maintained a satirical tone. Juan Antonio Lascuraín, a criminal law professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid, noted that legality is separate from ethical or political appropriateness. Íñigo Navarro, a former dean at Madrid's Comillas Pontifical University, argued that the context made it clear the figures did not actually say those things.

José Javier Olivas, an associate professor at Spain's National University for Distance Education, called the use of deepfakes regrettable for a party seeking to revitalise democracy. He stated that while both mainstream parties attack rivals' morality, this video crossed a red line by putting words in others' mouths, a practice he classifies as disinformation. The issue is also gaining traction in the United States ahead of midterm elections, where a Wesleyan University report identified more than 200 AI-generated ads, many without disclaimers.

The People's Party dismissed the criticism. Borja Sémper, a party figure, argued that the video uses digital tools to highlight Socialist hypocrisy and that a problem exists only if there was malicious intent to deceive. Most polls suggest the People's Party will win the election scheduled for 29 November, though they will likely require support from the far-right Vox party to form a government.