The Exorbitant Amount Spent by Bustinduy's Ministry on Advertising on La Ser

Pedro Sánchez recently attacked Isabel Díaz Ayuso accusing her of belonging to a "far-right international" that uses digital media and talk show hosts to spread misinformation.

According to the president, the Community of Madrid allocates public funds to aligned platforms with the aim of manipulating public opinion.

However, the central government itself has intensified funding for media favorable to its discourse. A clear example is the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs, and Agenda 2030, which allocated 93% of the advertising budget on radio to Cadena SER in its latest campaign.

According to data obtained through the Transparency Portal, the ministry led by Pablo Bustinduy favored the PRISA Group's station in the distribution.

The campaign in question, titled "For Healthy Eating and Lifestyle Habits," was promoted by the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN).

The design of the campaign was awarded to The Box Advertising S.L., which received 65,000 euros for its work. However, the majority of the expenditure was allocated to the purchase of advertising spaces, with a total budget of 233,000 euros.

Of this amount, 128,865 euros were directed to radio advertising, of which 120,698.23 went to Cadena SER.

This represents 93.66% of the budget allocated to this medium. Thus, stations like COPE and Onda Cero, which have more than five million listeners, were left out.

In contrast, part of the budget was indeed allocated to stations like the Catalan RAC1 and the Basque Radio Euskadi.

PRISA Also Receives Money from Digital Media Advertising

In addition to the amount allocated to radio, the PRISA Group received additional funds for advertising in digital media.

Of the 55,289 euros allocated to internet dissemination, 12,204.85 euros went to the group's media, including AS, El País, and Cadena SER's own website.

Specifically, the AS newspaper received 7,945.76 euros, El País received 4,027.21 euros, and the SER website obtained 231.88 euros.

Adding up all the allocations, PRISA pocketed a total of 132,902 euros for the Ministry of Social Rights' advertising campaign.

Other media also received part of the budget, although in significantly smaller amounts. Marca and El Mundo (Unidad Editorial) obtained 16,416.38 and 3,032.16 euros, respectively.

Additionally, small allocations were made to 20 Minutos, Sport, Mundo Deportivo, La Vanguardia, ABC, and El Español. The rest of the budget was used for social media ads.

Million-Dollar Investments in Institutional Advertising in Favor of PRISA

This case is not isolated. During 2023, several ministries have economically favored the PRISA Group in the distribution of institutional advertising.

The Ministry of Education allocated 978,445 euros to PRISA in 2023, which accounts for 21% of its total advertising budget.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Equality delivered 949,153 euros, 10% of the total. Industry, in turn, granted 343,998 euros, representing 27% of its advertising budget.

The data show that Sánchez's government systematically favors the PRISA Group in its advertising campaigns.