Is it true that at the camp of Ukrainian refugees in Spain they hung the poster “no flags”?

In early August 2022, Russian media and some government agencies spoke about the action arranged in one of the small Spanish towns and called for refugees to abandon the demonstration of Ukrainian symbols. We checked the reliability of such messages.

On August 2, in the Telegram channel "Sputnik is near abroad" appeared The post, which claimed that next to the center for reception of refugees in the Spanish town of Benalmaden hung a poster with the inscription NADA de Bandera (“no flags”) and the crossed Ukrainian flag. As a confirmation, the author of the publication attached a picture that the subscriber sent the channel. On the same day, she told about what had happened "Federal News Agency", a little later - ""Vesti.ru", clarified that there was not one poster and such posters placed “near some institutions”. August 3 by photography Shared In his Telegram channel, TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov, and the next day about the action in his official Twitter account reported Russian Embassy in Spain.

The story of the poster of “no flags” in a small resort town near Malaga was widely dispersed not only in Russian. Publications in English, French, Polish and other languages They attracted attention Our colleagues from the AFP factory unit, who decided to understand the reliability of the picture. The plot was interested in Spanish projects Newtral And Malditaas well as factor from EFE, the world's largest Spanish -language news agency.

To begin with, in Benalmaden there is no center for reception of refugees at all, as AFP was reported in the local branch of the Red Cross. Nevertheless, local residents really accept Ukrainians and help them to adapt: ​​they collect primary necessities, take events for children and organize courses for the study of Spanish. With reference to the City Hall, EFE claims that there has never been a poster with the inscription “no flags” in the city. This is confirmed by the inhabitants of Benalmaden surveyed by both agencies.

With the help of the Google Street View service, AFP and EFE Factchera were able to install a place in Benalmaden, where a picture that was dispersed through social networks and the media was taken. In this, they were helped by a fragment of an advertisement for the Epic Gym fitness center. However, only according to this Internet service, no conclusions about whether the “No flags” poster appeared in this place in this place in 2022, Google removed the panorama in the fall of 2019.

Judging by the statements of Epic Gym in their social networks, they became known about the viral picture quite quickly-already on August 5 at the Instagram account* of the fitness center appeared Commentary on the tweet of the Russian Embassy in Madrid. The authors of the post called fake news and admitted the publication of the diplomatic mission and admitted that they find it disgusting and unacceptable. Epic Gym also noted that neither the company nor any of its employees supports Russia's foreign policy in relation to Ukraine.

This position on August 9, in a conversation with AFP, was confirmed by a representative of the gym named Tony. He stated that neither he nor his colleagues saw a poster with the inscription “no flags” either on the Epic Gym building or anywhere else in the city. Next to the fitness center, according to Tony, is an apartment building, and not a center for reception or placement of refugees. The Red Cross representative told AFP that Ukrainians are accepted in one of the city hotels, but it is located a kilometer from Epic Gym.

Applications of the fitness center, the authorities of Benalmaden, the local branch of the Red Cross and ordinary citizens and tourists confirm the data of the detection of photomontage in the images. So, we checked the picture using error level analysis (Error Level Analysis, Ela; We are more about this method They wrote In one of our previous analysis). Services Forensically, Fotoforensics And Invid It is shown that the poster, most likely, was absent in the original photo and was added later. Analysis of GHOST, also carried out in Invid, leads to similar conclusions.

Epic Gym also published on Instagram* video recording from the scene-judging by the video posted on the social network on August 5, at the site of the alleged poster you can see graffiti with the logo of the fitness center. The voice behind the scenes (probably an employee of the institution) emphasizes: the paint is old, graffiti itself has already cracked. In other words, the drawing was not applied recently to hide the traces of the poster with the inscription about the flags.

Thus, according to the aggregate of the evidence available today, with an extremely high degree of confidence, we can argue that the statements about the poster on the “camp for Ukrainian refugees” in the Spanish resort city are not true that have spread in the media and social networks.

*Russian authorities They think Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social network Instagram, an extremist organization, its activities in Russia are prohibited.

Photo on the cover: Telegram

Fake

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. AFP Fact Check. Twierdzenia, że ​​antyukraińskie Plakaty wiszą na ośrodku dla uchodźców w hiszpanii są fackzywe
2. Newtral. No hay prunebas de que en el municipio de benmádena se hecho una pintada que Diga “Nada de Bandras ucranianas”
3. Maldita. ¿Qué Sabemos Sobre Una SupueSta Pintada de ‘Nada de Bandras Ucranianas’ Compartida Por La Embajada Rusa en España?
4. EFE. NO Hay Pruebas de Que Se Haya Hecho Una Pintada Contra Ucrania Cerca de Un Centro de Refugiados
5. Is it true that the "Russophobic" stickers were pasted in Auschwitz?
6. Is it true that Ukrainian refugees caused forest fires in Spain?