True: “Madrid is among the European cities with the highest number of deaths per million inhabitants”

The leader of Podemos party, Pablo Iglesias, stated during a televised electoral debate on 21 April that, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the community of “Madrid is among the European cities with the highest number of deaths per million inhabitants (2,207) more than London, Paris, Rome or Berlin”. The claim turns out to be true.…

Media analysis: Brexit aftermath through the lens of leading newspapers in Spain, France and the United Kingdom

Brexit became a reality at the end of 31st December 2020. Depending on the media, perspectives about this event have been different. In this media analysis, we have thoroughly examined nine articles from three leading newspapers in three countries: La Vanguardia (Spain), Le Monde (France) and The Guardian (United Kingdom). These three newspapers were chosen…

fact checking

Mostly false: “Spanish Government pull effect makes Spain the main European entrance for illegal immigrants”

At the beginning of January, VOX, a Spanish far-right party, issued a statement in which they blamed the current government’s immigration policies for making Spain’s coasts “the principal entrance for illegal immigration in Europe”. The release is chronologically connected to the massive arrival of irregular migrants to the Canary Islands, where the regional authorities were…

False: “The current law on gender-based violence has not reduced the number of women killed”

Vox and other extreme right-wing parties in Europe have a sexist and anti-feminist discourse. Vox’s leaders, Javier Ortega Smith and Santiago Abascal claim “there is no interest in proving that men die in women’s hands as well” while arguing that “the current law on gender-based violence has not reduced the number of women killed”. Their…

Blog: Fact-checking the project YES! and their intention to represent the opinions of the European Youth for the upcoming elections

We discovered the survey YES! due to an article published in the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia that talked about a project run up by young people for young people. We thought that the idea was innovative, and it was a good way to make young people voices heard and vindicate their claims as well. Results…

fact checking

Mostly false: “Catalan public media lacks objectivity and pluralism”

In recent years, public media in Spain have been questioned because they are commonly accused of serving particular political tendencies. In the case of the Catalan public broadcasting, the claim arrived to the Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament in January 2019. Two complainants accused the Catalan public television (TV3) and radio station (Catalunya…