This article is not meant to encourage take up of UK satellite TV services in Spain. It is made available purely to provide information about this issue.

The largest UK provider of satellite TV services is not licenced to provide services to customers in Spain. Therefore it is illegal for them to provide these services.

There are a large number of local installation companies that provide UK satellite TV services across Southern Spain. However, we understand that virtually all of them will tell you not to contact companies in the UK if you have problems with the service.

The first issue that people could have in Spain is the size of dish required to receive a reasonable signal. As Spain is on the edge of the region where the signal is broadcast you would need a much bigger dish to receive any sort of service. Typically installers provide a 1.3m dish. They say that this provides the best balance of cost versus quality of signal. However, you could buy bigger dishes at a much higher price.

With a 1.3m dish the installers say you can pick up the majority of the channels being broadcast. However, installers say that at different times of day or at times of bad weather or particular atmospheric conditions some channels could break up or not be received at all. We understand that this is an issue that people would have to accept if they purchase a UK satellite TV system for use in Spain.

Most people opt for a free to air service where you would pay a one off price to the installer who will provide a dish, a box and will cable it all together for an all in price. Installers may tell you that it is possible to bring your own box from the UK.

We understand that there are ways in which you can receive subscription services in Spain. Installers here in Spain know more about this.

Finding a suitable location for the dish could be an issue. If you have a villa it is probably not a problem as you could probably put it somewhere in the garden or on the roof. For people that live in an apartment block the location of the dish could be an issue, particularly if you have anything other than a top floor apartment.

Most apartment blocks in Spain do not appear to be designed to accept satellite TV services easily. There is normally a trunking system so that cabling from the dish on the roof can be fed to individual apartments. However, a lot of people have told us that there is no easy way for the installers to get access to the roof to install dishes. On a lot of occasions they have had to ask someone with a top floor apartment whether they can use their roof terrace to gain access to communal areas on the roof to install a dish or to check the dish if there are problems.

Most urbanisations have a rule that says that you can´t put a dish where it is visible on your own balcony.

Another issue with apartments is the risk of large numbers of dishes being installed to provide individual services to individual apartments. However, we understand that there are opportunities for people to share dishes. Installers could tell you more.

On some occasions the installers provide one dish per block and installs a distribution system to split the feed so that it can go to a number of apartments. In this situation an individual owner of an apartment may not be able to go to the installer of their choice. They may have to use the installer that the urbanisation has selected and pay whatever price that installer demands or get no service at all.

About Almerimar

Almerimar is located in the region of Andalucia, Spain. The nearest airport is 30km away in Almeria. Other airports that are within 3 hours include Malaga, Murcia, Granada, and Alicanti. Other holiday resorts in the region include Mojacar , Aguadulce and Roquetas de Mar

Almerimar is also one of the largest marinas in Spain with over 2,000 births and excellent boatyard facilities.