3'000 Radio stations face closure

Following many years of complaints the Spanish Government has finally made a decision to shut down around 3,000 pirate radio stations currently in existence up and down the country. In many regions the total number of these illegal stations is far in excess of the legal stations.

Madrid is proposing to create a map of all Spanish radio stations which will allow a cleaning up of the FM band and the quick closure of the radio stations that do not have the appropriate licences.

The Government State Radio Communications Agency will be created by June 1st, and will be given the responsibility for controlling the airwaves. It’s creation is part of the new LGGA legislation (General Law for Audiovisual Communication) which last week gained approval in Congress last week and which will be taken to the final vote in the Senate in February.

The Spanish Association of Commercial Radio is made up of licenced broadcasters SER, Onda Cero, Cope, Punto Radio amongst others, and they have already compiled a list of radio stations that they believe to be operating without the appropriate permissions. The list ran to 482 such stations on the Canaries, 387 in Andalucía, 338 in the Valencia region, 183 in Cataluña, 144 in Madrid and 143 in the Basque Country. In addition there are many so-called Municipal Radios which are breaking the law as they are operated by Private companies and not by the Ayuntamiento.

Many of these so-called ‘illegal’ broadcasters have opposed these claims, complaining that no new concessions for licences have been made available.