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Spain to tighten rules for crypto ads and keep eye on bogus influencers

Spain will tighten its rules regulating advertisements for cryptocurrencies to ensure the country's four million crypto investors are aware of the risks, Spain's stock market supervisor said Tuesday.

Published: 18 January 2022 14:47 CET
cryptocurrency spain
Crypto ads in must also include "information on risks in a prominent manner". Photo: NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP

Advertising of unregulated cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, has surged, particularly by social media influencers, drawing attention from regulators worldwide.

Under the label “stock-tok”, thousands of social media videos are now circulating online, with so-called ‘experts’ urging people to invest in cryptocurrency or buy their money-making course.

There are an estimated four million people in Spain who have invested in cryptocurrency, but the crypto phenomenon is especially grabbing the attention of young people between the ages of 25 and 30.

“It’s like telling a kid, ‘here’s a Ferrari, you can drive it a 200km/h, look how I do it’, without them even knowing how to drive,” Álvaro Huerta of online trading provider IG Group told Spanish broadcaster RTVE.

Under new rules that will come into place in February 2022 in Spain, ads for cryptocurrencies and other crypto assets must be “clear, balanced, impartial and non-misleading,” stock market regulator CNMV said in a statement.

They must also include “information on risks in a prominent manner,” it added.

Providers of crypto services must inform the regulator of ad campaigns aimed at 100,000 people or more with at least 10 days notice.

These rules also apply to promotional activity by any person advertising on behalf of third parties, such as social media influencers.

In November, the regulator scolded Spanish football star Andres Iniesta after he promoted the cryptocurrency exchange platform Binance on his Twitter and Instagram accounts.

In a tweet sent to Iniesta, CNMV recommended that he be “thoroughly” informed about cryptocurrencies “before investing in them or recommending others to do so.”

Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile, and because of their global and decentralised nature, attributing a single cause for a rise or fall in their price is difficult.

China banned cryptocurrency transactions at the end of September.

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SPANISH TRADITIONS

Everything you need to know about Mother’s Day in Spain

Here's how and when in May Mother's Day is celebrated in Spain, and why it owes its roots to religion and a Valencian poet.

Published: 3 May 2024 13:37 CEST
Everything you need to know about Mother's Day in Spain

This year, Mother’s Day (El Día de la Madre) is celebrated in Spain on Sunday May 5th. It’s always celebrated on the first Sunday of the month of May.

On this day, young children in Spain give their mothers manualidades (crafts) they’ve made at school as a token of their love.

Husbands and older sons and daughters may buy their wives/mothers a present to say thanks for all that they do as matriarchs, which usually takes the form of a detalle (smaller present than for a birthday or Christmas), and will come accompanied by a message such as te quiero, mamá (I love you, mum).

According to experiences website Aladinia, the average Spaniards spends €65 on gifts on Mother’s Day. 

Other mums may send out text messages to wish each other ¡Feliz Día de la Madre! (Happy Mother’s Day!).

As it’s always celebrated on a Sunday, many shops will be closed but you can expect plenty of restaurants to be open for lunch and perhaps dinner. 

Depending where you’re from, the first Sunday of May may or may not be when you’re used to celebrating Mother’s Day in your home country.

Around the world over 100 countries celebrate Mother’s Day (or Mothering Sunday, more on the difference below) – 77 in May, 13 in March, and 14 at other times during the year.

Some countries, like the UK, celebrate Mothering Sunday on the fourth Sunday during Lent, meaning that the date changes each year. This is because Mothering Sunday was originally a Christian holiday in some European countries.

READ ALSO: How a female teacher campaigned for Spain to have a Father’s Day

Spain, however, celebrates Mother’s Day on the first Sunday in May each year, meaning that it doesn’t have a fixed date either. But it wasn’t always like that.

The history of Mother’s Day in Spain

The first Mother’s Day in Spain was celebrated in Madrid all the way back on October 4th, 1926. Much of the impetus for establishing a day to celebrate mothers came, rather fittingly, from a poet.

Julio Menéndez García, a Valencian poet and public servant, pushed for a special day to celebrate mothers. Spanish newspaper La Libertad published a short section on Garcìa’s efforts in October 1925:

“A Levantine poet, Julio Menéndez García, has had the happy initiative that in Spain and in the Spanish-speaking nations a day should be consecrated to extol the love of mothers. The establishment of Mother’s Day is something tender and sympathetic, which deserves to be welcomed by governments, the press and public opinion, as it involves the highest tribute to women in their most august representation.”

After the Civil War, the church moved the date to December 8th to coincide with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a key holiday among Catholics. 

Civil War-era poster urging Madrid mothers to leave the Spanish capital with their children before the arrival of Franco’s troops. (Photo by AFP)

But it wasn’t until 1965 that Mother’s Day was celebrated in May in Spain. The reason for this change of date was to separate the celebrations (both were considered important enough to have their own day) but also the influence of other countries, namely the United States.

The campaign for a Mother’s Day was originally started by Anna Jarvis, an American wanting to honour her mother, in 1908. By 1914, US President Woodrow Wilson officially signed it into law, establishing a May date. 

However, for many years in Spain department store El Corte Inglés maintained the date of 8th December, meaning that Spain Mother’s Day was celebrated twice a year for a while, commercially speaking at least.

In 1936 a local council in Breña Baja, on the Canary island of La Palma, became the first in Spain to move Mother’s Day to May.

However, in 1965 the church authorities officially decided to move Mother’s Day to May, a month consecrated to the Virgin Mary. May is also the month of female gods in the classical world, and in Catholicism is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Interestingly, Jarvis herself later campaigned against the day, arguing it had become overly commercialised, something Spaniards often bemoan about other imported American customs like Halloween and Valentine’s Day. 

READ ALSO: How a female teacher campaigned for Spain to have a Father’s Day

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