How to watch Spanish Satellite TV in the UK

In the UK we are able to view a range of TV channels from Spain via a Satellite Dish and Receiver for Free with no subscriptions. As well as free Spanish TV it is possible to subscribe to pay services for a larger range of channels including Sports and Movies but this can be quite costly.

Here we will explain what Spanish TV channels are available in the UK and what you need to be able to watch them at home.

Spanish channels are mainly transmitted from 3 satellites that can be received in the UK and Ireland very easily. Astra 1 at 19 East, Hotbird at 13 East and Hispasat at 30 West.

Spanish TV Channels from Astra 1

Astra 1 is possible the easiest and most cost effective way to watch Spanish TV as it only requires a 60cm Satellite Dish and the channels can be received with most HD Satellite Receivers, we recommend the Technisat, Cryptobox and Technomate ranges but many more are available.

Below is a list of the Free Spanish channels available from the Astra 1 satellite.

• Aragón TV Internacional
• Canal Extremadura Satélite
• Canal Portada
• Canal Sur Andalucía
• Galicia TV Europa
• Männersache TV

Although not a huge selection of channels, Canal Sur Andalucía and Galicia TV are both very popular channels and many more free to air European channels are also available from the Astra 1 satellite.

We recommend a 60cm Satellite Dish and LNB for Astra 1 as it’s quite a strong signal for most of the UK.

INVERTO 60cm Satellite Dish

As well as a satellite dish and LNB you will require a HD Satellite receiver, lots are available but for a good quality and easy to use receiver then Cryptobox would be a good starting point.

CryptoBox 800UHD 4K Ultra HD Satellite Receiver

To give you an idea of budget for all of the equipment you should need to spend more that £200. Of course if you require installation then you will have to pay a local installer that will of course charge you to set the whole system up.

Satellite Engineer costs do vary across the country but to give you and idea you would expect to pay between £95 and £150.

No installation is the same and different factors will have a bearing on the cost of fitting.

Spanish TV Channels from Hotbird

Although the Hotbird Satellite have hundreds of Free to Air channels it only has two notable Spanish TV channels.

• Canal 24 Horas
• TVE Internacional Europa

But these are also quite popular channels. Luckily it is possible to view both sets of channels from Astra 1 and Hotbird by using a slightly larger 80cm Satellite Dish and a Monoblock LNB.

A monoblock is a clever LNB that goes on the end of the dish that is designed to allow reception of both the Astra1 and Hotbird satellites, although still using a standard HD satellite receiver such as the Cryptobox we do recommend a larger 80cm dish.

But the advantages are you will be able to enjoy channels from both satellites at not much extra cost.

Spanish TV Channels from Hispasat

Hispasat is located at 30º West and is perhaps the most well know satellite for Spanish TV but however the choice for free channels that are available with a standard HD receiver are limited.

To be fair most of our customers prefer the choice of Spanish channels from Astra 1 and Hispasat.

However with the correct satellite Receiver such as the Televes ZAS HD TDT Sat receiver you will be able to view the National Spanish TV Channels from Hispasat. These are very popular channels. We will discuss them further below.

Here is a list of the Free channels that a standard HD receiver such as a Cryptobox will be able to receive.

• Aragón TV
• Bom Cine 
• Teledeporte
• TPA 7
• TPA 8
• TV Castilla-La Mancha
• UHD Spain HDR

TDT Sat Spain from Hispasat

Televisión Digital Terrestre is the Spanish National TV Service similar to our UK Freeview. Although the TV aerial service is not available in the UK the TDT Sat Spain Satellite version is available to us.

TDT Sat offers the most comprehensive list of TV Channels available from Spain in the UK and includes all the National TV channels that you would receive if you actually lived in Spain.

TDT transmits from the Hispasat Satellite located at 30º West and is possible to receive with an 80cm satellite dish although if you are further North in the UK we recommend a larger 1 Metre dish for better signal reception.

Below is a list of all of the Free channels available on TDT

• TVE 24h
• Cuatro
• 13 TV
• Antenna 3
• La 1 (TVE1)
• La 2 (TVE 2)
• La sexta, Neox, Nova
• Telecinco
• Antena 3 HD
• Cuatro HD
• La Sexta HD
• Telecinco HD
• Mega
• TVE1 HD
• Paramount Channel
• Divinity
• Energy
• Factoria de Ficcion (FDF)
• Atres Series HD
• Be Mad
• Dkiss
• Ten
• Atres Series
• Be Mad HD
• Disney Channel
• Boing
• Clan TVE
• Real Madrid TV
• Teledeporte TVE (TDT)
• Teledeporte HD
• GOL TV
• Real Madrid HD
• DMAX HD

As you can see TDT Sat offers a wide range of channels including General Entertainment Sports and Movies and all subscription free.

Although these channels are Free to Air they are encrypted and the only way to unlock or view the channels is with an Official Televes HD ZAS TDT Satellite Receiver and it is very important that the receiver has been registered in Spain otherwise it will not work.

Televes TDT Satellite receivers are not available to purchase directly off the shelf in Spain as they are only available to houses that are in rural locations in Spain that are unable to receive the channels via a conventional TV aerial.

As TDT boxes are only available in certain circumstances in Spain then I’m afraid we have to pay a premium to be able to have them shipped to the UK.

It does seem quite expensive for a box that on the face of it does not look very expensive to produce but once installed they are very reliable and easy to use.

We source all of our TDT Sat boxes direct from Spain and test them fully for despatch in the UK to ensure all of the channels are working correctly.

If you have any queries regarding how to watch Spanish Satellite TV in the UK then please do not hesitate to contact us.

We have over 26 years experience in European Satellite TV and only to happy to help and answer your questions.