15th Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum Spain (IGF Spain 2025) — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

On 18-19 November 2025, the 15th IGF Spain annual meeting ran as a hybrid at ETSIT-UPM in Madrid, with senior figures from regulator CNMC and data authority AEPD on stage.
It debated the WSIS+20 review, redefining 'digital infrastructure' to span submarine cables, satellites and AI data centres with cyber-resilience built in, AI and geostrategy, and protecting minors.
Held in the year of the UN IGF in Lillestrøm, it charted the next decade: consolidating national forums within a public-private cooperation model.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on 15th Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum Spain (IGF Spain 2025) draws on official outputs, session records and on-site reporting. In a hurry? The three lines above and the diagrams carry the gist.

Conference at a Glance (from official records)

Item	Detail
Official name	15th Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum Spain (IGF Spain 2025)
Edition	15th Annual Meeting
Dates	18–19 November 2025
Venue	Hybrid: ETSIT-UPM (Madrid) and online
Theme	'20 years driving a more open, sustainable and inclusive Internet'
Sessions	6 (Six main sessions per the conclusions page (the archive counts nine roundtables, including the Youth IGF Spain programme and the sponsors' panel))
Speakers	Over 50 speakers
Host	Coordinated by Jorge Pérez Martínez; opened with Secretary-General for Telecommunications Matías González, CNMC vice-president Ángel García Castillejo, AEPD deputy Francisco Pérez Bes, deputy DG Vanesa Sánchez Rojo and UPM manager Víctor Robles
Outcome	A roadmap, 'Hoja de Ruta IGF Spain 2026-2035', is published on the forum's site

(See the source list at the end of this article.)

Discussion Digest — from the Session Records

Key exchanges extracted from session records and transcripts.

1. WSIS+20 and the Future of Governance — Institutionalising National Forums

Sessions: Roundtables on the WSIS+20 review and digital cooperation in the Internet ecosystem

Following the WSIS 20-year review, participants agreed governance forums must adapt to new digital realities and consolidate within countries as public-private cooperation structures [1][2][3]
A published 'Roadmap 2026-2035' set out the forum's own design for the next decade [1][2][3]

2. Redefining Digital Infrastructure — Cables, Satellites and AI Data Centres

Sessions: Roundtable 'From protecting critical infrastructure to digital resilience' and related sessions

Digital infrastructure, panellists argued, must now be conceived beyond telecom networks to include submarine cables, satellites and AI data centres [1][2]
Greater investment in cyber-resilience — critical infrastructure secure and resilient by design — was urged, echoing the UN IGF's submarine-cable agenda the same year [1][2]

3. AI and Geostrategy — Can Europe Lead Without Surrendering Its Values?

Sessions: Roundtables 'AI and geostrategy: can Europe lead in technology without renouncing its values?' and 'Data governance'

The panel confronted whether Europe can exercise technological leadership amid US-China AI competition while holding to human rights and democratic values [1][2]
Paired with the data-governance session, it tested the sustainability of a European model combining regulation with competitiveness [1][2]

4. Protecting Minors — In a Digital Space Continuous with the Physical World

Sessions: Roundtable 'Protecting minors without compromising adults' privacy: is it possible?'

Child protection, panellists argued, must assume digital and physical life are interwoven rather than treat the online world separately [1][2][3]
The session title itself posed the core age-assurance dilemma: protecting minors without compromising adults' privacy [1][2][3]
With AEPD and CNMC leadership in the opening, the issue was framed as one cutting across regulators [1][2][3]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What did the meeting decide?

A. Nothing binding — but in the year of the UN's WSIS+20 review it committed to consolidating the national forum as a standing public-private structure, publishing a 2026-2035 roadmap.

Q. What was the central issue?

A. The definition of infrastructure itself: submarine cables, satellites and AI data centres reframed as critical digital infrastructure requiring resilience by design.

Q. Why does it matter?

A. Submarine-cable protection and AI data-centre siting are now economic-security issues everywhere, and the minors-versus-privacy dilemma is the same one confronting regulators worldwide.

What Is Spain IGF? (for first-time readers)

Spain IGF is a National or Regional IGF Initiative (NRI), aligning local internet governance discussion with global IGF principles.

Why It Matters to You

What was discussed here becomes the baseline for national digital policy, platform rules and AI regulation worldwide within a few years. The principles confirmed at the 2025 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.