A shocking online deception has been uncovered, revealing how a secret Chinese social media campaign, known as Spamouflage, tried to create political chaos in Spain. Investigators at Graphika, a group that tracks online threats,

Fake accounts attempted to fan discontent as people raged against establishment figures following floods in the Valencia region that killed more than 200 people.

The Chinese social media operation Spamouflage aims to whip up political anger in the West. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Spamouflage, a social media campaign linked to the Chinese state, has called for the overthrow of a foreign government, alleging improper flood relief efforts in Spain. The campaign impersonated the human rights group Safeguard Defenders,

Global car manufacturers are constantly looking for ways to cut production costs, and for Chinese brands, high tariffs and shipping expenses make local production in Europe an increasingly attractive option.

U.S. president Donald Trump has apparently confused Spain for a member of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, causing some head-scratching and jitters over possible tariffs in Madrid.

Spain's economy has received a welcome boost with news it outperformed many other members of the eurozone by expanding by 3.2 percent in 2024, according to preliminary data from the country's National Statistics Institute.

Typical spending on housing costs is far above the European Union average of 27 percent, according to a recent Bank of Spain report. Faced with this crisis, the government has now declared a "housing situation emergency".

Spain is a "reliable partner" in NATO, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump criticised Madrid for falling short on its financial contributions to the defence alliance.

After US President Donald Trump confused Spain with a member of the BRICS bloc, a spokesperson for the Spanish government responded, saying she was unsure why Trump made the comment. Trump erroneously said Spain was in BRICS when a journalist asked him on Monday about NATO countries like Spain which don't meet the NATO minimum of spending 2 percent of economic output on defense.

The online operation from China, called Spamouflage, has been operating in several countries since 2017, online analysis outfit Graphika said.

The network also made large profits by charging people, mostly from China, to smuggle them to Europe ... forgery facility following 14 raids in Spain and another in Croatia. AFP