Could the ‘Spanish Joe Rogan’ decide the election?
In this week’s edition we look at how one of Spain’s most popular YouTubers is expected to interview all Spanish election candidates at length, and why many believe he could tip the balance just like Joe Rogan did when helping Trump reach power.
Jordi Wild – born Jorge Carrillo de Albornoz Torres – is a household name for anyone under 40 in Spain.
His ‘Wild Project’ podcasts have clocked tens of millions of views on YouTube and earned him over 12 million subscribers. He is without a shadow of a doubt Spain’s podcast king.
Wild’s content is in many ways similar to that of Joe Rogan – ultra-longform interviews with prominent or interesting people, covering a wide range of topics in an unscripted manner.
Even their interests and appearance are similar, both being muscle-bound lovers of Mixed Martial Arts that helps them engage with their largely male audience.
Crucially, Wild has followed in Rogan’s footsteps when evolving from a more general entertainer/content creator into a major cultural gatekeeper capable of attracting high-profile political figures.
Don’t miss our journalists’ daily news roundup from Spain
You may remember that Trump’s appearance on ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ and the presenter’s ensuing endorsement of the Republican candidate were widely cited by political analysts (and even the Trump campaign) as decisive in the US’s 2024 presidential elections.
Is the same about to happen in Spain?
Having attempted a similar stunt prior to the last general election in Spain in 2023, an increasingly influential Wild decided to once again put a callout to the main political candidates to appear on his podcast.
Within two hours, he’d received a “sí” from conservative People’s Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, something Wild said he was “surprised by” as he thought the PP, known for being rather wooden and uncharismatic, would be “the hardest to convince”.
Soon after it was Vox’s Santiago Abascal who said he would join Wild in the studio and chat to him for “50 to 90 minutes”, the same as for other candidates.
Cuenta conmigo @JordiWild https://t.co/ffMoUdGrkU
— Santiago Abascal 🇪🇸 (@Santi_ABASCAL) October 9, 2026
“I’m still waiting to hear what’s happening with Sumar, Frente Amplio, Podemos, and the left-wing coalition,” Wild explained on X.
That leaves Spanish Prime Minister and Socialist candidate Pedro Sánchez, who rejected Wild’s previous invitation in 2023 and opted instead to appear on podcast ‘La Pija y la Quinqui’. According to Wild, the tables have now turned.
“The day before my call-out, I spoke with someone VERY close to Pedro Sánchez to discuss the possibility of a chat on the podcast,” the 42-year-old podcaster from Manresa in Catalonia wrote.
“They reached out to me. I was upfront and warned them it wouldn’t be a massage/interview like in other places, and that, with all due respect in the world, I was definitely going to ask about sensitive topics (just like with the other candidates). They told me they’d have to discuss it internally with the campaign teams, etc.”
PROFILES: Who are the three main candidates in Spain’s snap election?
Just like Joe Rogan prior to his Trump endorsement, Wild has shrugged off being politically pigeonholed.
“Politics? I’m a non-dogmatic, progressive liberal,” he once replied in a 2022 interview with Catalan daily La Vanguardia, even admitting that he’d voted in favour of Catalan independence.
Not exactly a move from the right-wing nationalist playbook.
On other occasions, he’s been pro-abortion but critical of inclusive language, and then liberal on some other issues.
“I find it so absurd to put everything into two camps ,” he once asserted, adding that he no longer felt represented by any political party.
However, by shifting away from traditional media and heavily prioritising long-form, male-focused podcasts, Wild has ended up appealing to a vital voter demographic—disaffected young men.
READ ALSO: Why do many young people in Spain think life was better under Franco?
That gives Feijóo and Abascal – the two candidates so far to have confirmed their appearance – a very useful platform from which to draw in new voters.
The interviews with the four main candidates are not quite a done deal yet.
“If any of the candidates backs out on me, I’ll have to keep my word and won’t bring in any of the others,” Wild stressed “That’s how it is, and I was clear about it. I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
As for the format, the tattooed podcaster with a love for tight tank tops confirmed that it “won’t be the typical format of: 10 minutes on the economy, 10 minutes on housing, 10 minutes on immigration… but rather individual conversations with their own topics, if needed. Less rigid interviews than the usual ones.
“That said, there will be common questions and segments for everyone.”
Wild has committed to signing an agreement with all candidates whereby he won’t edit the interviews at all but they can’t ask him to make any changes.
“My intention would be to release the chats in the second week of November. Starting from the 9th”, he said, so two to three weeks before the key vote.
The last general election in Spain in 2023 saw exiled Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont turn into the unlikely kingmaker for Pedro Sánchez. This time it could be a YouTuber who tips the balance.
