The communication problems that still exist in the Spanish Armed Forces

I've been thinking about publishing this article for some time, but a very recent event has finally encouraged me to get started.

The importance of a good COMCAM and the excellent photos of a Ukrainian brigade
The spectacular short film of the COMCAM of Finland showing its Armed Forces

Last week, the Spanish Air Force's 23rd Wing organized a major event at Talavera la Real Air Base to celebrate the 300,000th flight hour of its F-5 fighter jets. I learned about this thanks to Jorge Guardia and the excellent photos and videos he posted.

A Swiss YouTube channel I follow, Luhengfoto, published this magnificent video recorded on April 23rd during that celebration:

As you know, one of the purposes of Defense and Aviation is to publicize the work of the Spanish Armed Forces. This is a Spanish blog run by a civilian. Obviously, I don't have enough resources to travel all over Spain, and every day I check what the Armed Forces publish on their social media (especially Twitter) so I have material to write my articles. Five days later, the Air Force has not published anything about that event on its Twitter account, its Facebook page, its Instagram account, or its website. Even sadder is discovering that their Flickr account (which is a Pro account, meaning it's paid) hasn't posted anything since July 30, 2025.

Obviously, this isn't always the case. The communication policy of the Armed Forces has improved considerably in Spain in recent years. But there are still problems that are incomprehensible in 2026: events about which very few photos are published, and sometimes of very low quality (at a time when smartphones have been taking photos of optimal quality for years) and videos that are published in 720p format (when it's common to find videos on YouTube, even from very basic channels, in 1080p or even 4K).

The communications policy of the Armed Forces in Spain is highly centralized. This is a choice (it also occurs in other countries), but it means that communications departments must be well-resourced and staffed, otherwise bottlenecks develop. For example, the Latvian Army (a small armed force) has a superb Flickr account that publishes many photos of different events. While here it's common to see 3 or 4 photos published of an event, there it's typical to see albums of 20 or 30 photos. In fact, I've been able to publish many articles about Spanish military personnel in Latvia thanks to the Latvian Army and its excellent photo albums.

There are other countries where communication policy is more decentralized. For example, the Polish Army allows its various units to publish their own Facebook pages. This allows you to obtain high-quality information and visual material from a wide variety of sources. The best example of this is the United States: its multimedia portal, www.dvidshub.net, constantly publishes photos and videos supplied by different units within its branches of service. It is abundant and of very high quality.

In Spain, there have been outstanding attempts to publish good content. I remember, for example, the social media channels created by the Tercio de Armada a few years ago, with photos and videos of superb quality. They were all shut down, in accordance with the idea of ​​centralizing communication. A shame. Something similar happens in the Air Force: there are unofficial channels managed directly by units. They publish very good information but are more or less in limbo. The Army has loosened up a bit in this regard, with accounts as well managed as that of the Land Force (FUTER) on Twitter.

There are also some noteworthy examples. The Spanish Joint Chiefs of Staff (EMAD) has a very good communication policy on its website and social media. The Military Emergency Unit (UME) has an excellent social media communication policy, publishing extensive, high-quality photo albums whenever it has an operation underway. The Royal Guard has just launched social media accounts with a simply admirable level of professionalism.

Of course, I don't blame the problems on the communications professionals in our Armed Forces. I know they do a great job with the resources they have. I've spoken with some of them and I must always thank them for their cordiality and good work. The problems, I'm afraid, come from higher up. So I hope these words also reach those higher up, so they remember that Spain has magnificent Armed Forces that deserve to be better known, by offering more resources and more personnel to their communications departments and, where possible, allowing different units to have their own channels.

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Main photo: Ēriks Kukutis / Latvijas Armija. Rest of the photos: Elentir.