Spaniards are showing greater interest in news and slightly higher levels of trust in journalism, according to the 2026 Digital News Report España, an annual study produced by researchers at the University of Navarra's School of Communication in collaboration with the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford.
The report is based on an online survey of 2,008 adults in Spain conducted by YouGov in late February 2026 for the international Reuters Institute Digital News Report. The University of Navarra researchers are responsible for analyzing and interpreting the data for the Spain report.
The University of Navarra described the findings as showing a general “resurgence of interest in the news,” with 54% of Spanish respondents saying they are very or extremely interested in current affairs. That is 3 percentage points higher than in 2025 and the highest level recorded in four years.
Overall trust in the news also increased by 2 percentage points, reaching 33%. When respondents were asked about the credibility of the news they personally consume, the figure rose to 42%. By comparison, 19% expressed trust in news obtained through social media or artificial intelligence chatbots, while 27% trusted search-engine results. The credibility rating for major Spanish news brands increased 3 percentage points to 45%.
“According to the researchers, although journalism is not currently enjoying a period of extraordinary trust, news organizations continue to enjoy, in comparative terms, the highest level of credibility among the public,” said the University of Navarra.
“Altogether the report offers a more positive assessment this year than in recent years,” according to the university.
“After a decade of declining interest, loss of trust, and increasing intermediation of consumption by digital platforms, 2026 shows some signs of stabilization and, in some core topic indicators, improvement.”
Interest in news increased across several age groups, particularly among people 65 and older and those ages 35-44, both of which recorded a 7-percentage-point increase. Interest also increased among people under 35. Spain rose from 16th to seventh among the 48 countries analyzed for interest in news. However, the report noted that the cumulative decline in interest since 2018 remains significant and that the age gap remains pronounced.
The report describes “a complex market marked by fragmentation and mistrust, but also by the persistence of professional journalism as reference” in the digital landscape. The report's findings indicate that professional news organizations continue to occupy a central position even as people increasingly encounter news through social media, search engines, aggregators and other digital platforms.
Young people, however, remain less engaged with traditional news media. The report found that 53% of those under 25 have low trust and low interest in news, compared with 35% of the general population. These young people also access news less frequently and rely on sources that differ significantly from those used by the general population, particularly audiovisual social media.
The report also found that influencers and content creators are playing an increasingly significant role in news consumption. Forty percent of Spaniards said they had obtained news through influencers or content creators during the previous week.
“The audience perceives creators as more approachable, understandable, and entertaining than professional media outlets,” noted the university.
“However, they clearly rank them behind journalistic media in the attributes most closely linked to news quality standards: authenticity, knowledge of the issues, reliability, and impartiality.”
Researchers interpreted the findings as showing that influencers are complementing rather than replacing professional journalism.
“Influencers attract, explain, and connect with their audiences, but rigor continues to be associated with professional journalism. In fact, when Spaniards pay for digital news, they do so almost exclusively to news organizations, not to content creators.”
The report also examined public media. Thirty-five percent of respondents said public media had a positive impact in Spain, compared with 28% who viewed the impact negatively.
“Spain thus ranks in the middle of the European standings, far from the countries most critical of their public broadcasting,” noted the university.
“Citizens acknowledge its contribution to universal access to relevant news, reliable information, and democratic pluralism, although they also express serious criticism of political interference.”
Meanwhile, 74% of respondents said they were concerned about distinguishing between true and false news online, 5 percentage points higher than in 2025 and the highest level recorded in the series. Researchers said the finding underscored the continuing importance of professional journalism.
“In an environment saturated with noise, where citizens fear they cannot distinguish truth from falsehood and where most access to information is determined by algorithms, news brands are the ones the public continues to identify as the most reliable, the most chosen when payment is required, and the ones that best embody the attributes associated with quality information.”
