[New Europe] Spain Blurs the Line Between Fake News and Dissent

Seeking media plaudits is par for the course in a democracy. Confounding dissenting coverage with fake news is another story.

Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gómez, Spain's Minister of the Interior (Photo: El Español)

Ever since 200 of its officers sought to scuttle Spain’s transition to democracy through a coup d’état in 1981, the Guardia Civil has shed its longtime reputation for subversiveness and emerged instead as a bulwark of constitutional order. So when the gendarmerie corps’ highest-ranking officer pledged to “minimize criticism” of the government’s handling of COVID at a press briefing early this week, his words sent shockwaves through the nation.

This piece was co-authored with Fundación Civismo’s Juan Ángel Soto. Continue reading it in its entirety at New Europe here.