The Ministry of Interior has defended the document prepared by its Communication Office that includes profiles of dozens of journalists and that, according to an investigation by 'ElConfidencial', includes assessments of their political orientation and their relationship with the Government. From the department led by Fernando Grande-Marlaska, they have assured that it is "an informative document, of an internal nature" and have rejected that this type of compilation implies unequal treatment of information professionals. "The Communication Office of the Interior attends to all media and journalists, without distinctions," they stated in conversation with this newspaper.
According to the investigation published by the aforementioned media, the file, prepared between late 2023 and 2024, is titled "Tertulianos. Radio y Televisión" and bears the seal of the Ministry of Interior and its Communication Office. The document consists of dozens of pages with individual files of active journalists, accompanied by photographs, the media outlet they work for, and observations about their political orientation or their supposed affinity with the Executive.
The files, according to the digital newspaper, include expressions such as "supports the Government," "aligned with the PSOE," "recognized anti-Sánchez," "conservative tendency," "radical right-wing ideology," "socialist militant," or "lately she is more combative." The list is not limited to journalists specializing in Interior, National Police, or Civil Guard, but also includes media directors, columnists, pundits, and editors from the areas of politics, economy, or events, as well as heads of professional organizations such as the FAPE, the Madrid Press Association (APM), or the Association of Parliamentary Journalists.
EXCLUSIVA | El equipo de Marlaska elaboró un dosier secreto de decenas de periodistas 'fichados' por su ideología: "Apoya al Gobierno"https://t.co/YT81hMtwYB
— El Confidencial (@elconfidencial) September 8, 2026
The revelation has provoked a reaction from the Federation of Journalists' Associations of Spain (FAPE), which has expressed its "most energetic condemnation" of the document's creation. The organization considers that no public body should "sign, catalog, or ideologically profile" journalists and warns that this practice constitutes a "direct attack on freedom of the press," protected by article 20 of the Constitution.
LA FAPE considera la lista elaborada por Interior una práctica incompatible con el Estado de derechohttps://t.co/29Xs4MLgu4 pic.twitter.com/j1FuX8G4Fw
— FAPE (@fape_fape) September 8, 2026
FAPE maintains that this type of classification can end up conditioning the professional practice of journalists, as they know that their information and opinions are subject to monitoring by a public institution. In this sense, it considers it especially serious that an organization with the capacity to influence access to sources, accreditations, and institutional treatment can establish a distinction between "allied" and "problematic" professionals.
Given this situation, the professional organization demands that the Ministry of Interior immediately "cease" any practice of classifying, monitoring, or profiling journalists by public bodies. It also demands guarantees that the professionals included in the list have not suffered harm, reprisals, or differentiated treatment and asks for accountability in the Ministry's Communication Office.
FAPE has also called on professional associations, journalists' colleges, unions, and citizens to join its demands for transparency and accountability. "Freedom of the press is not a privilege of journalists, but a democratic guarantee for all of society," states the federation, which warns that monitoring those who report also affects citizens' right to receive truthful information.
In this context, the government spokesperson, Elma Saiz, when asked about this issue at the press conference after the Council of Ministers, stated that the list "deeply" respects freedom of the press. "I want to remind you that those who enter TVE with a flamethrower or those who say 'we are going to crush you' are not us," Saiz declared.
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