Spanish Data Protection Agency fines La Directa and VilaWeb over police infiltrator reporting

The Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) imposed a €7,000 fine on the newspaper La Directa for publishing information that identified police officers who had infiltrated social and political movements. The agency ordered the outlet to delete faces, tattoos and any other identifying details from its reports.

A similar sanction was later issued to the digital news site VilaWeb, also for €7,000, after it published a fictitious name used by an undercover officer, a photograph showing an infiltrator’s face, and other personal data. VilaWeb’s director Vicente Partal warned that such actions could enable any public official to demand the erasure of their name from factual journalism, leading to self‑censorship and a “death of journalism.”