Police officers arrived at EDA TV headquarters, a YouTube-based channel on Madrid’s Calle de Lagasca, on Wednesday morning with a court-issued arrest warrant for Vito Zoppellari Quiles, widely known as Vito Quiles. The attempt to detain him failed because he was not at the office. Sources familiar with his work say he spends most of his time reporting from the streets rather than in the channel’s newsroom.
Authorities have not disclosed which of the five ongoing judicial cases against Quiles prompted the arrest order. Quiles confirmed the warrant’s existence on social media but did not identify the case. He blamed what he described as a campaign of mass complaints by associates of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, following an incident involving Begoña Gómez. Quiles accused the government of using the justice system to target political opponents and said officials portray themselves as victims when facing corruption allegations.
Juan Gonzalo Ospina, Quiles’s lawyer, confirmed the police visit to EDA TV and called the measure disproportionate. Ospina argued that authorities could have contacted Quiles or his legal representative directly, or gone to his home instead of the company’s premises. He also said he did not know which of the five open cases had led to the arrest order.
Among the proceedings, Renfe has filed a complaint against Quiles alleging fraud. ElPlural.com reported that the railway operator alleges he made as many as nine trips between Alicante and Madrid with tickets covering only part of each journey, ending in Cuenca or Albacete, before continuing to the capital. Renfe is seeking €871 in the case, which is being handled by a court in Alicante. The complaint also alleges unauthorized use of VIP lounges and reputational harm to the company. These allegations are separate from the other proceedings and have not been identified as the basis for the arrest warrant.
In another case, Quiles faces hate-crime charges involving a person with a disability who protested against Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso in 2024. Prosecutors are seeking a two-year prison sentence and a five-year ban on practicing journalism. Other reported proceedings involving Quiles concern donations intended for children affected by the October 2024 DANA floods in Valencia, as well as complaints related to journalist Sarah Santaolalla and former minister Beatriz Corredor. These are separate matters, and authorities have not disclosed which case prompted the warrant.
Quiles is also under investigation over the alleged disclosure of private information and harassment involving Beatriz Corredor, president of Red Eléctrica (REE). The case followed the online publication of her home address and photographs of her property after the April 28, 2025 blackout. It is being handled by Madrid’s Court of Instruction No. 23, where Quiles appeared to testify in April. A court in Seville is separately investigating alleged insults and slander against Rubén Sánchez, secretary-general of consumer group FACUA. The private prosecution is seeking nine years in prison for repeated slander with ideological aggravation, €60,000 in damages and a 20-month ban on journalistic activity. Sánchez has said the current arrest warrant is unrelated to his case.
The litigation involving Begoña Gómez has also advanced since a lower court provisionally dismissed her complaint concerning an incident at a restaurant in Las Rozas on April 29, 2026. On May 12, a Majadahonda court provisionally dismissed the complaint. The Audiencia Provincial de Madrid later ordered the case reopened for further investigation, including whether the conduct could amount to coercion under Article 172 of Spain’s Criminal Code. The provincial court reportedly considered the dismissal premature: recordings did not establish that Quiles shoved or physically blocked Gómez, but the court said that did not settle the possible legal classification of the conduct. The case returned to the investigative stage; the reopening was not a finding of guilt.
On October 19, Judge Gerardo Calvo of the Majadahonda court rejected Quiles’s counter-complaint against Gómez, which alleged false reporting or testimony, because it failed to meet a procedural admissibility requirement. EFE reported that the decision also cancelled a planned appearance by both parties. The two proceedings are so at different stages: Gómez’s complaint against Quiles remains under investigation, while Quiles’s counter-complaint was rejected. Neither procedural decision is a final ruling on criminal liability.
Other cases involving Quiles have been dismissed. A separate complaint concerning an incident involving political analyst Sarah Santaolalla outside the Senate was dropped after a review of security footage; the original account said it showed no aggression by Quiles. The PSOE had reported Quiles for allegedly harassing several senators and Santaolalla, but the court found no grounds for prosecution.
In a separate development, the Spanish Congress withdrew Quiles’s press accreditation for three months in May after he filmed and broadcast images of former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in a restricted area of the chamber. This followed several incidents involving Quiles and another agitator, Bertrand Ndongo, which led to their temporary suspension under public-administration procedures. The legal and political tensions surrounding Quiles reflect wider disputes over media conduct and political accountability in Spain. Those debates have also featured in cases involving leaked confidential data, including the controversy concerning José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero covered in coverage of privacy and information leaks in Spain.
An arrest warrant is a judicial measure, not a determination of guilt. In cases involving public figures and political disputes, distinguishing an investigative or procedural step from a final criminal judgment is basic to understanding the legal status of those involved.
