00:00 Days before Spain holds its general election on Sunday, misleading claims have been spreading
00:04 on social media.
00:06 Let's take a look at what's true and what's false.
00:14 Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called an early election after his left-leaning coalition
00:19 lost in the regional and local polls this May.
00:23 More than 37 million Spaniards are eligible to vote, including 2.3 million abroad and
00:28 at least 2.5 million have registered to cast ballots by post.
00:33 With many people currently enjoying their summer holidays, social media users have been
00:37 falsely claiming that it's impossible to vote if you're away.
00:41 One Facebook user said the only option is to be present on July 23rd to vote in person
00:46 or to abstain.
00:47 However, the government website as well as the Spanish post office explain on their webpages
00:52 that the electoral census office will send the documentation for voting by mail to the
00:57 address where the interested party will be from July 3rd.
01:01 Once the ballot is received, the applicant has until July 21st to send it back by mail.
01:12 In a viral TikTok video, a man claims that he wants to vote by mail for the far-right
01:16 party Vox in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
01:19 However, the political party does not appear on the ballot.
01:22 This enraged many social media users, calling the election a scam.
01:34 However, there's a simple explanation to all of this.
01:37 After numerous resignations, Vox did not present a full list of candidates, which made them
01:42 unable to run for Congress this year, hence there being no option to vote for them in
01:47 Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
01:48 Here are some tips from Marc Esteve Del Valle, a professor at the University of Groningen
02:00 specialized in social media and disinformation.
02:04 The main thing would be verify the information whenever you can.
02:09 Don't assume that because this information is coming from someone who is very close to
02:14 you this is actually something that happens a lot on social media.
02:18 This is going to be trustful information.
02:22 Make use of techniques and above all make use of common sense.
02:28 For more information and real-time updates about the election in Spain, check out our
02:32 website Euronews.com.
02:34 [End of Audio]
02:35 1
02:35 1
02:36 1
02:37 1
02:37 1
