The JEC says the recording may have violated Articles 50.2 and 53 of Spain’s electoral law, the LOREG: Article 50.2 restricts public authorities from publicising government achievements during an electoral period, while Article 53 limits candidates’ use of resources supplied by public administrations outside the formal campaign period. On 29 October 2026, the commission opened a sanctioning proceeding against Pedro Sánchez after a complaint by the Partido Popular (PP). It ordered him to remove the video from the social-media profiles where it had been posted and to avoid conduct that could exploit public resources available to him because of his office. The proceeding is not a final finding of liability; the potential fine is reported to range from €300 to €3,000.
Published on 24 October 2026 in connection with United Nations Day, the footage shows Sánchez moving through the otherwise empty galleries of Madrid’s Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía before speaking with Pablo Picasso’s Guernica behind him. He presented Spain’s position on contemporary conflicts and invoked the painting’s anti-war message, describing his government’s principles as consistent across conflicts and “without double standards.” The PP argued that the video used a national museum and the painting’s symbolic setting for electoral promotion.
The JEC rejected Sánchez’s defence that the video was a general reflection without electoral messaging or a request for votes. It said he referred to decisions and positions adopted by his government on international conflicts. The recording took place during an institutional visit requested by the Presidency of the Government and arranged through the museum’s institutional office. The visit received protocol treatment reserved for heads of state and government, as well as other authorities. That allowed access outside the museum’s normal public-opening schedule. The commission considered the access arrangements related to the topic even though filming reportedly caused no additional expenditure and the museum was not formally closed to ordinary visitors.
The case adds to a record that, at the time of the decision, included six sanctioning proceedings against Sánchez, two during that electoral period. His previous fines totalled €6,600. They included a €500 penalty in January 2020 for a television interview from the Moncloa during an election period and a €2,200 fine in October 2023 for election-related remarks after a European Council meeting in Brussels. Coverage of the wider campaign has also examined disputes over party line-ups in an earlier report.
The commission separately dismissed a Vox complaint about Sánchez’s announcement of a planned €45 million package for university residences. It found that his remarks at the Moncloa provided information of general interest without references to electoral achievements, and ruled out opening a disciplinary case.
Elma Saiz, the minister for Inclusion and government spokesperson, also faces a JEC disciplinary case over comments about PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo and pension policy at a post-Cabinet press conference. The commission said her wording appeared to contrast the PP’s pension policy with that of the current government. The PP also sought a case against Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez over her remarks on government housing policy, but the JEC rejected that request, describing their evaluative content as minimal.
