How to watch BBC in Spain following the big switch off

February 10, 2014 1 Comment

Last week expats across much of Spain and other countries in Europe woke up to find that overnight they had lost the ability to receive BBC channels via satellite. The chance is down to the BBC switching their satellite broadcasts from an old satellite, and in the change they also decided to focus the satellite beam much more tightly on the UK.

12 Feb Update: ITV and Channel 4 made the move overnight, so the situation is even worse. The same solutions will apply though.

television
The result is that whereas many Brits in Spain could watch BBC, now they are unable. It hasn’t happened over the entire country but if you’re like me and have lost the BBC it is extremely frustrating.



I actually don’t watch that much on BBC – mainly Top Gear 😉 – and I appreciate that we don’t contribute towards the British television licence that helps fund the BBC. Even so, it seems to have been a harsh decision and upset many people.

The good news though is that there are some solutions for you. Here we look how to watch BBC in Spain online on your TV, laptop or other device:

  • The first of these is to watch a free service such as FilmOn on your computer. You need a broadband internet connection of course, but with the right cable you’ll be able to hook it up to your TV. You can also get apps for iOS and Android devices that will allow you to watch live TV on those devices and, again, you can hook them to your TV with the right cable.
  • Another solution is to buy a media player such as offered by Direct Telecom that connects your TV to the internet. Direct Telecom is aimed at expats and provides telephony and internet services and has a very good tech support department. If you are buying internet services from them already then their media player connects direct to their streaming service, otherwise there is a low monthly fee as well.
  • Also, if you want to watch video on demand rather than live TV, such as the BBC’s iPlayer service, you can do so quite easily. Download the Chrome browser if you don’t already use it, install Hola Better Internet and if you switch it on (I’ll leave it to you to work out how it works) and select the UK VPN (Virtual Private Network) you’ll be able to watch programmes on BBC iPlayer!

There are bound to be other solutions coming available in the next few months as there are many people in the same position as you, so if you sign up to our newsletter (below) I’ll keep you informed as to any new developments.

Also, if you want to ask any questions then please leave a comment below so that others can benefit from the conversation.

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1 Comment

  • Jenni says:

    Best way to watch basic UK tv on holiday without having to install internet at the house?
    Help!
    Nirvana Andalucia

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