On 9 October 2020, the Spanish government, Spanish advertisers association (AEA) and Spanish advertising self-regulatory organisation (Autocontrol), tasked with promoting responsible advertising, published the "Code of conduct on the use of influencers in advertising" to regulate the advertising activities of influencers. 

It is the first regulation involving advertising on social media that refers to influencers, and will come into force on 1 January 2021. Up until now there has been some uncertainty in relation to these advertising activities. From January 2021, the companies affiliated to AEA or Autocontrol, as well as companies and influencers that adhere to the Code, must comply with its rules, including referring to the Code when fulfilling contracts. The names of companies and influencers adhering to this Code will be published.

Influencers frequently enter into promotional agreements with brands. The Code clarifies the remuneration methods to be applied when advertising a product, stating that free products (which include event invitations, gifts or trips) are also a means of payment for the influencer.

Any influencer content that is classified as advertising must be clearly identified as such by the influencer in question using the tags “ad”, “advertising”, “sponsored”, “in association with”, “thanks to (Brand)”, “(Brand’s) gift” and “sponsored by”, through separate tags or any other sufficient indication of commercial purpose, when posting on their personal accounts. This must also occur whenever influencers share advertisements on other social media posts.

On the other hand, the Code recommends that influencers do use generic indications (“information”, “legal” or similar), unclear tags such as “Colab”, “Sponso”, or “sp”, or to require an action of any kind from the user (“click here”, for example).

The Plenary of the Jury of the Advertising of Autocontrol is the body responsible for imposing potential fines on the advertising activities of influencers.

Stay tuned to MediaWrites for further developments in this fast-moving industry.

Previous articles regarding provisions introduced to cover influencer marketing in various European jurisdictions can be found for:

Germany – https://mediawrites.law/influencer-marketing-in-germany-courts-in-berlin-try-to-find-a-balance-between-practicability-and-marketing-laws/
UK – https://mediawrites.law/influencing-the-influencers-new-cap-guidance-clarifies-rules-on-affiliate-marketing-in-the-uk/
Hungary – https://mediawrites.law/advertisement-must-come-first-influencer-marketing-in-hungary/
Czech Republic – https://mediawrites.law/dos-and-donts-of-czech-influencer-marketing/
Italy – https://mediawrites.law/influencer-marketing-in-italy-the-digital-chart-introduces-new-rules-for-online-marketing-communications/
Denmark – https://mediawrites.law/influencer-marketing-danish-influencers-in-trouble-with-danish-marketing-practices-act/