• 42% of Spaniards generally trust the news they personally select and consume, compared with 29% who do not trust it

• Mistrust is spreading throughout the entire population: those over 65 are now the only group in which the trusting (37%) outnumber the skeptical (34%)

The outlook for trust in the news in Spain in 2026 is moderately positive: 33% of respondents say they tend to trust the news on a regular basis, two points more than in 2025. This slight uptick offers a small respite after five years in which distrust reached 40% and credibility hit rock bottom at around 30%.

 From a comparative perspective, Spain continues to rank below the average of the 48 countries analyzed, which show a 37% level of trust and a 29% level of distrust. In the European context, Spain’s position remains relatively weak and lags clearly behind the countries of Northern Europe, where levels of trust generally exceed 50% and fees significantly lower, at around 20%.

 
More confidence in my news

One of the data significant data once again lies in the gap between trust in the news in general (33%) and trust in the news that each respondent regularly consumes (42%)—four points higher than last year. This is a manifestation of the so-called “third-person effect”: many citizens perceive that leave news leave affects the system as a whole, rather than the sources they personally choose. This is a patron saint identified in previous editions and one that appears to intensify as interest in current events grows. More than half of respondents interested in current events (52%) say they trust their news sources, compared to 22% of those who are not interested.

 
Confidence is improving among young people, but declining among older adults

Underlying the slight increase in trust in the news are two opposing trends. On the one hand, credibility is improving among younger age groups. On the other hand, it is declining among older adults, who have traditionally been the main source of support for trust in the news.In the case of younger age groups, this finding is particularly striking because it breaks a long-standing trend of declining trust. Although they remain the group skeptical group (only 29% of those under 45 say they trust the news), a recovery in credibility (+5 pp) is observed for the first time compared to the previous year. Particularly noteworthy is the decline in the percentage of those who distrust the news among those aged 35 to 44, which fell from 48% in 2025 to 40% in 2026.

 
At the other end of the spectrum, the status older adults is more concerning. Traditionally, older adults have served as the main bastion of media credibility.This year, their trust has dropped by four points, and as a result, for the first time in the 55-to-64 age group, those who distrust the media (36%) outnumber those who trust it (34%). Thus, those over 65 are the last group in which trust (37%) exceeds distrust (34%).

Beyond Age: Ideology, Interest, and source

Beyond age, ideology also leads to noticeable differences in the level of trust in the news. Respondents on the right show higher levels of distrust (45%) than those on the left (41%), while those at the ideological extremes are the most skeptical: 57% on the far right and 49% on the far left say they generally do not trust the news. In contrast, those in the center present a profile balanced profile , with 37% trusting the news versus 33% distrusting it. Overall, however, the core topic interest in current core topic : among those who report a high level of interest in the news, 41% trust it and only 13% distrust it.

Significant differences are also observed depending on the source of information. Those who watch television are the most trusting: 41% say they trust the news. At the other extreme, social media elicits the greatest skepticism: only 24% trust it, while 47% do not. Digital media and radio fall closer to the average, while print media show a more negative balance: 30% trust versus 50% distrust.

The issue " NINIs" in the media is decreasing

Classifying respondents according to their combined level of interest and trust in the news paints a somewhat less bleak picture for Spain in 2026. The group continues to be the “news-disengaged ,” that is, citizens with low interest in and leave in the news. They account for 35% of the total, and although they remain in first place, their share has decreased by three points compared to 2025. This is no minor change: it is the lowest percentage in the last five years.

 
At the same time, there is also a slight recovery among group high trust and high interest, which stands at 22% (+2 points). The other two profiles show little change: users with leave and high interest account for 32%, and those with high trust and low interest remain at 11%. In comparative terms, Spain shows less NEETs news programs than the global average (35% versus 39%), but it stands out for the higher proportion of attentive and skeptical users (32% versus 24%).

Widespread distrust of search engines, social media, and chatbots

This survey has reintroduced the question about the credibility of search engines and social media as sources of information, and for the first time includes a question about trust in the information provided by artificial intelligence chatbots such as ChatGPT or Gemini. The result is clear: while trust in the news in general is already at a modest level, the figures drop even further when respondents are asked about these specific channels.

 
Search engines come closest to reflecting overall trust in the news: 27% of respondents say they can be trusted, compared with 35% who disagree. They likely continue to benefit from a perception of functional neutrality, as if they acted more as organizers of results than as news outlets. Even so, the data reflects a significant erosion compared to 2021 (-3 pp) and 2018 (-11 pp).

Social media and chatbots are the channels with the lowest levels of credibility, at around 18% in both cases. In the case of social media, the decline has been steady: six points lower than in 2021 and nine points lower than in 2018. Far from establishing themselves as reliable sources of information, they seem to be reinforcing their image as useful spaces for quickly accessing content, but ones with little credibility.

The specific analysis of social media reveals several nuances. First, there are hardly any differences by age, which calls into question the idea that young people rely more on these platforms as a source of information. Second, social media generates little credibility even among those who use it as source of information: only 21% of these users say they trust it, compared to 45% who express distrust. Differences also emerge based on political ideology and interest in current events. Users on the right trust social media slightly more (24%) than those on the left (18%) and those in the center (17%). And, once again, those most interested in the news show greater trust (23%) than those who are not interested (13%).

In the case of chatbots, their credibility is very limited. The fact that only 18% trust the informational responses generated by assistants such as ChatGPT or Gemini, compared to 46% who do not, indicates that the Spanish population has not yet placed the same level of trust in these tools as it does in other channels— leave be. The enthusiasm that informational AI may generate coexists with low levels of trust, likely associated with issues such as hallucinations, the lack of explicit source attribution, or the opacity of the response-generation processes.

Widespread improvement in trust in the news brands analyzed

data the leading news brands analyzed paint a picture for 2026 that is somewhat less bleak than that of 2025. All the brands analyzed in the report credibility levels, and in several cases, distrust has also declined.

 
The strongest figures are once again found in regional and local media, which continue to be the most reliable reference letter for respondents. Fifty-four percent trust their news coverage (+3 pp), and only 14% do not trust it (-4 pp), meaning that not only do they retain the top spot, but they have also widened their lead compared to 2025.

Several broadcast brands also stand out. Antena 3 and RTVE both achieved a 52% trust rating, though their trajectories differed: Antena 3 saw a more moderate increase (+2 pp), while RTVE posted one of the most notable gains of the year (+4 pp), despite maintaining a higher level of distrust (28%). In radio, Cadena SER stands at 51% (+6 pp) and Onda Cero at 49% (+3 pp), confirming that radio remains one of the news media with the highest levels of trust relative to others.

Among newspapers, the improvement is also evident. *El País* reaches 49% (+6 pp) and becomes the top-ranked general-interest newspaper, ahead of *El Mundo*, which reaches 47% (+6 pp), and *ABC*, which stands at 45% (+4 pp). Among digital-native publications, the growth is somewhat more modest but equally consistent: elDiario.es reached 42% (+4 pp), 20 Minutos 41% (+3 pp), and El Confidencial 39% (+3 pp). At the leave table are Telecinco and Okdiario, with trust levels of 36% and 35%, respectively. Even so, both have improved their credibility compared to 2025 (+4 pp in both cases) and have partially reduced their levels of distrust.

Ideology continues to shape trust in brands

The overall improvement in trust in news brands does not eliminate a fundamental characteristic that remains highly visible in 2026: their credibility continues to be strongly shaped by ideology, and trust is clearly higher among those ideologically closest to a brand than among those furthest from it. In that sense, the data offer a clear indication of polarization.

Among conservative or liberal outlets, the guideline particularly consistent. ABC garners significantly more trust from the right (58%) than from the left (30%). El Mundo shows a profile : 56% from the right and 34% from the left. Antena 3 sample a clear conservative bias, albeit a more moderate one: trust stands at 59% among both the right and the center, compared to 39% among the left. Onda Cero follows this patron saint , with 55% among the right and 41% among the left. The clearest example is probably COPE, where trust stands at 63% among right-wing listeners and drops to 28% among left-wing listeners.

Trust in selected TV brands, by ideology:

 
Trust in selected news brands, by ideology:

 
Trust in selected digital native media brands, by ideology:

Trust in selected radio brands, by political ideology: 

 
Among media outlets with more progressive editorial lines, the relationship between ideological affinity and trust also exists, but it is more nuanced. RTVE is once again the most notable case: it remains clearly more credible among left-wing audiences (71%) than among right-wing audiences (38%); Cadena SER achieves a 61% trust rating among left-wing audiences and drops to 41% among right-wing audiences. La Sexta shows a similar but more pronounced pattern: 57% among left-wing audiences and 31% among right-wing audiences. El País retains a strong base on the left (57%), but maintains relatively high levels on the right (42%), giving it a profile more cross-party profile . ElDiario.es also draws more support from the left (47%) than from the center (44%) and the right (41%), though with a less steep curve.

News outlets with profile neutral or less ideologically biased profile help provide a more nuanced perspective. 20 Minutos sample not sample such sample pronounced affinity among left-leaning (38%) and centrist (43%) readers, but it clearly performs better among right-leaning readers (48%). Telecinco presents a profile polarized profile , with 29% trust among left-leaning readers, 40% among centrist readers, and 38% among right-leaning readers; and finally, El Confidencial, although it may be perceived as a less ideologically driven brand, comes close in its internship patron saint moderate patron saint : 31% among left-leaning readers, 43% among centrist readers, and 49% among right-leaning readers.

Compared to 2025, the increase in trust in news brands has not been evenly distributed. For some media outlets with profile to the center-right, the improvement has been more pronounced among their ideologically aligned audiences: ABC has seen greater growth on the right (+7 pp) than on the left (+2 pp), as have El Mundo (+8 pp versus +4 pp) and Onda Cero (+6 pp versus +4 pp). However, this guideline is guideline replicated across the board: COPE has seen fairly even gains (+3 pp on the left, +3 pp in the center, and +2 pp on the right), and Antena 3 sample hardly sample . This increase on the right is also evident among less ideologically aligned outlets, such as 20 Minutos (+13 pp on the right), Telecinco (+9 pp), and El Confidencial (+12 pp). In contrast, other outlets show more cross-ideological gains: RTVE improves more on the right (+11 pp) than on the left (+8 pp), and El País, Cadena SER, and La Sexta also grow in both ideological blocs.