The Popular Party has resorted to artificial intelligence to put invented confessions into the mouths of Begoña Gómez, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and four other people linked to the PSOE. The video, disseminated from the official accounts of Alberto Núñez Feijóo's party, reproduces their faces and voices to make them utter accusations about themselves. Ferraz is studying legal actions while two of the main popular spokespersons have defended the montage this Thursday.
The response of the national spokesperson for the PP, Borja Sémper, has been to claim the initiative as a way of communicating. "I am not concerned about the use of artificial intelligence or originality in communicating," he declared in Torrejón de Ardoz. The parliamentary spokesperson, Ester Muñoz, has maintained that it is clear that the video is artificial and, at the same time, has defended that it "tells the truth" about the people portrayed.
The publication appeared on X at 10:18 PM on Wednesday, with the message "Yes, they are left-handed," and this Thursday it showed 1.6 million views. It has also been distributed on Instagram and TikTok. It copies the background, framing, and presentation of the video with which Pedro Sánchez had claimed his "pride" in being left-wing before Javier Milei's visit to Madrid. The PP transforms that slogan into "Dumb and proud".
The montage begins with a replica of Begoña Gómez who attributes her professorship to her husband being the Prime Minister. Then recreations of José Luis Ábalos, Zapatero, Leire Díez, Montse Mínguez, and Santos Cerdán appear, who are made to talk about illegal commissions, jewels, actions against a judge, and real estate businesses. The phrases have been fabricated for the video and convert accusations and controversies of different natures into apparent personal admissions.
Sí, son zurdos. https://t.co/KoaP55mI3N pic.twitter.com/iu5qsyYGZd
— Partido Popular (@ppopular) October 21, 2026
Sémper and Ester Muñoz back the montage
Sémper has set the limit at attempting to pass off recreations as authentic interventions. If there were a "spurious intentionality to make people believe that the characters appearing there are the real ones," he explained, there would be "a problem." According to the popular spokesperson, "everyone is capable of interpreting" that the party is using digital tools to denounce what it considers the "hypocrisy" of the PSOE. The video includes a small print warning of its AI creation at the bottom.
The PP leader also assured that he is concerned about insults, while defending a piece that ends up calling its protagonists "idiots." His statements came in an appearance in which he claimed his party's "sensibility" and "rigor" and asked for politics to be "edifying" again. The popular leadership maintains its commitment to the dissemination of the content. "The more they amplify the reach of our digital content, the better," said PP sources quoted by Europa Press.
Muñoz responded to the possibility of legal actions that the PSOE can do what it "deems appropriate" and reproached them for wanting to "judicialize politics." To justify the montage, she accused the socialists of having distributed a letter supposedly signed by Feijóo and claimed that now the PP plays "with the same weapons." Her defense combines two different arguments: that the recording is recognized as false and that the accusations it transmits are true, according to her party.
The PSOE's Organization Secretary, Rebeca Torró, described the video as "lamentable" on 'Hoy por Hoy', on Cadena SER. "They have been four years of insults and lies and now they use another instrument, which is AI, because they have nothing else but permanent insult," she denounced. The socialist legal services are studying how to respond, but Ferraz has not yet decided to file a lawsuit or a complaint nor has it specified a possible infringement.
The AI warning does not resolve legal limits
The controversy comes in the midst of the pre-campaign for the general elections on November 29, after Milei called Sánchez a "dictator" and "thief" during his visit to Madrid. The president had responded with his own recording in which he associated the word "lefty" with increases in pensions and the minimum wage, birth leave, and the right to abortion. The PP has moved that reply to the realm of simulated confessions of real people, including the president's wife, who does not hold a position in the party.
The use of political satire will be one of the relevant elements if the controversy reaches the courts. Javier Álvarez Hernando, a doctor in Law and a member of the Artificial Intelligence Center of the University of Valladolid, explained on 'Hora 14', on SER, that a recognizable parody has legal protection. He also warned that "the use of AI does not modify the constitutional limits of the use of satire" and that the specific case would have to be analyzed to determine a possible injury to honor.
The European Artificial Intelligence Regulation requires warning that an image, audio, or video has been artificially generated or manipulated when it constitutes an ultrafalsification. The information must be clear and distinguishable and provided, at most, at the first exposure to the content. For satirical or creative works, it allows adapting the form of the notice, preserving its exhibition and enjoyment. This obligation of transparency coexists with the protection of honor and one's own image, which must also be respected even if the use of AI is indicated.
In Spain, civil legislation protects against the imputation of facts that injure dignity and reputation, and contemplates exceptions for the caricature of public figures in accordance with social customs. An eventual claim would require evaluating the content, its presentation, and the rights affected. If an illegitimate interference were proven, the civil route allows requesting the cessation of dissemination and compensation; the law includes the scope and audience of the content among the factors to assess moral damage.
