If you earn money as an influencer in Spain, or you run a brand that works with them, there is a rule you need to know about. Since January 1st, 2021, a new Code of conduct on the use of influencers in advertising applies to influencers and advertisers who belong to the Association for the Self-regulation of Commercial Communication (AUTOCONTROL) or the Spanish Association of Advertisers (AEA). The core idea is simple: any post that is really an advertisement has to be labelled as one. If it is not, it can be treated as hidden advertising, which is a problem.
Before this Code, there was no single clear rulebook for influencers. Existing laws, such as the General Law of Audiovisual Communication, the Law of Services of the Information Society and Electronic Commerce, and the Law of Unfair Competition, were written before influencers existed as a profession, so they never really addressed this kind of activity in detail. The new Code fills that gap. It sits alongside other AUTOCONTROL conduct rules that already cover areas like toys or medicines, and it is short enough, about four pages, that an influencer can read it and understand what is expected of them.
What this means for you
The Code does not stop influencers from posting spontaneously, since that spontaneity is part of what makes them influential in the first place. What changes is what happens once a brand pays them, or gives them free products or gifts in exchange for promotion. Those payments and gifts now count as a form of income, which means they need to be declared. In practice, this means keeping track of what you receive and from whom, and it may mean it is time to bring in an accountant to help you stay on top of it.
This regulation is part of a wider move to bring some order to commercial activity on social media, an area that had been left largely unregulated while traditional advertising was already subject to clear rules for years. Influencing has grown into a real profession, and this Code is a first step toward giving it the legal footing it needs.
