The Central Electoral Board (JEC) has initiated a new sanctioning proceeding against the President of the Government and PSOE candidate for reelection, Pedro Sánchez, for the video he recorded inside the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía using as a background the famous "Guernica", by Pablo Picasso, a work that alludes to the bombing of Guernica during the Civil War.
In the recording, made in an empty public museum, Sánchez appeared with the "Guernica" behind him, appealing to the spirit of "No to war" and claiming to have maintained the same principles, "without double standards," in the various armed conflicts of recent years in the world and "despite the enormous pressures."
Shortly after, the secretary general of the PP and campaign director, Miguel Tellado, criticized in a message on "X" that Sánchez had been given access to the Museo Reina Sofía to film that video and reproached him for appropriating Picasso's work. "One has to have nerve. Once again, Sánchez abuses the resources that belong to everyone and appropriates the Guernica to record an advertising 'spot' in the electoral pre-campaign," he denounced.
The PP took the case to the JEC, asking for the withdrawal of the video, that information be requested from the Museum about the conditions of the recording and that the Ministry of Culture and its dependent bodies be reminded of the prohibition on placing public facilities and means at the disposal of candidates during the electoral period, in addition to calling for the opening of the corresponding sanctioning proceeding.
The defense of the president argued that the video is limited to a "reflection" on Spain's position "without incorporating electoral messages or requests for votes," denying that it constitutes an exaltation of Government achievements. It also maintained that the JEC lacks competence to supervise the cession of spaces at the Reina Sofía and underlined that the filming did not generate extraordinary expenses for the museum.
In its meeting this Thursday, the JEC upholds the PP's complaint and considers that the recording and dissemination of the video could violate article 50.2 of the LOREG, which prohibits public authorities from carrying out acts akin to campaigning based on management achievements during electoral processes, as well as article 53, which limits the free use of means provided by public administrations outside the official campaign.
The body maintains that the president "did not limit himself" to a generic reflection, but rather "introduced evaluative references to the decisions adopted by his Government", and adds that, even if there were no additional expenses and it was not necessary to explicitly close the museum, Sánchez could access and record "under the conditions typical of an institutional visit", taking advantage of his position as head of the Executive.
The JEC orders Sánchez to remove the video from social media and reminds both the Presidency of the Government and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía of "the duty of institutional neutrality" during the electoral period, as well as the prohibition on using public facilities and resources for actions with electoralist content.
In parallel, the JEC has rejected another complaint by Vox against Sánchez for announcing, at an event in the Palacio de la Moncloa on the Statute of University Students, the future approval of a package of 45 million for university residences. In the body’s view, the president limited himself to providing information of general interest, "without electoralist connotations or allusions to achievements obtained", so it does not see any infringement of the Electoral Law and there is no reason to open sanctioning proceedings.
Six proceedings and 6,600 euros in accumulated fines
With this decision, Sánchez now has six sanctioning proceedings from the JEC, two of them in the current pre-campaign. The first of this period was opened after the press conference at Moncloa on October 6, following the Council of Ministers that approved the two emergency decrees on housing that Congress had repealed the previous week.
So far, the head of the Executive has faced fines totaling 6,600 euros for violating, in different electoral processes, the principle of institutional neutrality set by the LOREG.
The first sanction, of 500 euros, was imposed on him in January 2020 for giving a television interview during the electoral period from the Palacio de la Moncloa and, in October 2023, he received another of 2,200 euros for making statements with electoralist content at a press conference in Brussels after a European Council.
In 2024, he was imposed another fine for taking advantage of an official event to support the Socialist Salvador Illa during the campaign for the Catalan elections, and the most recent previous proceeding was opened against him in the Extremadura elections for his criticism of the PP and Vox agreements.
New proceedings against ministers for their statements in Moncloa
On the other hand, the JEC has decided to initiate a sanctioning proceeding against the Minister of Inclusion and Spokesperson, Elma Saiz, for the statements she made at the press conference following the Council of Ministers on the 20th, when she referred to the PP leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, as a "specialist" in making "holes in the pockets of pensioners and Social Security accounts".
"The formula used by the accused seems to have the intention of making a contrast between the pension policy developed during the PP government and that implemented by the current Executive," interprets the JEC.
At the same appearance, the PP also denounced the words of the Minister of Housing, Isabel Rodríguez, who stated that the Government's policy in this area has made it possible to overcome a crisis in the construction sector and highlighted the Executive's capacity to "forge a majority agreement" around it.
However, the arbitral body rules out opening proceedings against her for the "scant evaluative significance" of her expressions which, although "appreciable," remains "at extremely low levels".