Spanish Electoral Board asks public media to stop using terms such as “Government in exile”

The Spanish Electoral Board has partially analyzed two appeals submitted by Cs against the resolutions made by the Barcelona Board regarding Catalan media coverage before the election.

On the one hand, it asks the public media to avoid terms such as "Government in exile" and "imprisoned ministers" because they believe they violate the principle of neutrality and equality between candidates. It states that the Catalan Audiovisual Media Corporation (CCMA), which includes Catalan public TV, has been "negligent" ensuring that these principles are in force and and asks them to "avoid using informative treatments that may lead to confusion during the campaign".

"The spectator can come to the false conclusion that there is a legitimate Government in exile, and that there is a political persecution of the ministers or that a certain candidacy is the genuine heir to this alleged Government in exile, concealing or disguising reality that such an exile does not exist but is a pure and simple application of the laws in force in a democratic country,” it stated.

On the other hand, the board also considers that the news coverage of the November 11 demonstration calling for the 'Freedom of political prisoners' violated the principles of political pluralism and informative neutrality.