Television in Spain began on 28 October 1956, with Televisión Española (now La 1) being the very first regular Spanish television channel.

Analogue TV Switch Off in Spain started in 2009. On April 3, 2010, the analogue TV service in Spain was officially discontinued.

Now all Spain’s main channels are only available via digital, although there are still some unofficial analogue TV services available on local transmitters

During the analogue to digital change over, most people simply had to buy a digital terrestrial set top box to be able to watch TDT in Spain.

Advantages of Analogue TV Switch Off in Spain

You will certainly see the difference between Spain’s analogue television and Digital TV. Crystal clear digital quality pictures, no or little cross interference, no ghosting, a lot more choice in channels, and the ability to change some of the programmes languages into English.

Digital TV also allows for High Definition (HD) channels. There are over half a dozen Spanish TV channels available in HD via TDT.

One analogue channel takes up one frequency, yet the same single frequency can carry around 4 or 5 digital channels.

So it makes sense for the analogue signals to be switched off and their channels to go digital.

TDT, or Televisión Digital Terrestre, is Spain’s digital terrestrial television system introduced in 2005 to replace the older analog broadcasts. This system enables viewers to access a range of free-to-air channels with improved picture and sound quality. TDT offers a variety of national and regional programming, including news, entertainment, and sports. The shift to TDT represented a major upgrade in Spain’s television technology, incorporating interactive features and expanding channel options. Today, TDT remains a widely used method for watching broadcast television across Spain, continuing to deliver diverse and high-quality content to viewers.