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CULTURE

The best TV and streaming alternatives to Netflix in Spain

Netflix, Spain's most popular entertainment platform, is set to introduce a new cheaper package with ads, but there are also a number of alternative streaming services with a lot on offer, if you don't want to go down that route.

The best TV and streaming alternatives to Netflix in Spain
Founder and CEO of Netflix Reed Hastings speaks during a keynote speech at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on February 27, 2017. Photo by LLUIS GENE / AFP

Netflix recently announced a new cheaper subscription package for just €5.49 a month, which will be available from November 10th 2022. The only catch is that your viewing will be interrupted by ads. 

The company said that advertising can “reach the right audience” and will ensure that the ads are displayed “are relevant to consumers”. 

The basic plan without adverts will be €7.99 for one device and up to €17.99 for up to four devices. 

As the creator of hugely successful Spanish shows such as La Casa de Papel (Money Heist), Las Chicas del Cable (Cable girls) or Élite, Netflix has attracted many loyal subscribers. But there are other options for those considering switching to a different platform.

These are the other main subscriptions platforms in the country and their prices:

Filmin – €7.99/month or €84/year

Filmin is Spain’s leading subscription platform for independent and arthouse films and TV shows.

Movistar+ Lite – €8/month

Movistar, the major telecommunications provider owned by Telefónica, launched its own VOD platform in 2015. It has established itself as one of the country’s most important VOD platforms.

Amazon Prime Video – €4.99/month or €49.90/year. 

Amazon Prime recently raised its rates on September 15th 2022, from €3.99/month to €4.99/month. They also have special discounted packages for students. 

Disney + – €7.99/month with ads, €10.99/month without or €109.99/year

Disney+ launched in Spain in March 2020 with a broad offering including Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars and National Geographic.

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Apple TV+ – €4.99/month

The platform currently offers a 3-month free trial after which it costs €4.99/month with shows like Mare of Easttown and The Morning Show.

HBO Max – €8.99/month or €69.99/year

The maker of “Game of Thrones” and the Harry Potter movies is launching HBO Max in Spain on October 26th, bringing together the entire Warner universe on one platform. The streaming service will replace HBO España which launched in Spain in 2016. Recent blockbusters like ‘Dune’ and ‘The Matrix: Resurrections’ will be available on the streaming platform after their run in cinemas.

Rakuten.tv – €6.99/month

Headquartered in Barcelona, this VOD streaming service includes content from Warner Bros, Disney and Sony Pictures as well as local distributors and independent labels. The monthly subscription offers access to its catalogue, but some of it is also available for free.

Starzplay – €4.99/month

Starzplay is a VOD platform run by American entertainment company Lionsgate, offering Hollywood films and TV shows and children’s programs. It arrived in Spain in 2019, and is also available via Canal+ subscriptions.

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TERRORISM

Spain sees heightened terror risk amid global conflicts

Amid rising tensions and conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere around the world, a meeting by Spain's National Security Council has identified several threats to national security, some pre-existing and some new.

Spain sees heightened terror risk amid global conflicts

Global conflict and instability has raised the terror and security risk in Spain. This is what Spain’s National Security Council (CSN) has concluded following a meeting with government ministers on Tuesday to approve security reports and outline new anti-terror strategies. A 61-page document was compiled to replace the previous one approved in 2019 and will be valid for five years.

Among the topics discussed, which are outlined here on the National Security Council website, were the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine and the heightened security threats they pose to Spain.

The war in Gaza, the Council states, presents “a real and direct risk” of an increase in “the terrorist threat, violent extremism and the emergence of new movements that promote a radical and violent ideology.”

READ ALSO: Spain could enforce conscription of ordinary citizens if there is war

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the document stresses, is also “a potential catalyst for terrorism”, as it “has led to an increase in the circulation of arms and explosives [in Europe], as well as the participation in the war of volunteer fighters of other nationalities”.

These uncertain global conditions could be exploited by groups or individuals “to undermine public security”, the document adds, and suggests that “state actors could carry out terrorist actions,” in what appears to be an allusion to the assassination of a Russian soldier in Alicante earlier in the year.

READ ALSO: Mystery surrounds death of Russian helicopter deserter in Spain

The meeting and report also outlined broader “risks and threats to national security” grouped into 16 categories, some older and long-established, some much more modern. They range from terrorism and violent radicalisation to the effects of climate change, space vulnerability, cyberspace, organised crime, migratory flows, foreign espionage and interference from abroad.

The CSN detects growing dangers to Spanish airspace, namely “events of commercial satellite launches from aerial platforms crossing controlled airspace, events of re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere of satellite launcher debris, uncontrolled hot air balloon overflights and an increase in drone overflights over military bases,” things that have all been noted in Spain in recent years.

In terms of terrorism, despite the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine Islamic terrorism remains the greatest threat to Spanish security. “The repeated dismantling of the leaderships of Daesh and Al Qaeda has not succeeded in eliminating these groups, which act in a more decentralised manner than in previous years,” the report states.

During the period covered by the previous security strategy (2019-2023) “more than 110 [security] operations related to terrorism activities have been carried out,” more than 90 of which were linked to jihadist terrorism, the document details. Just 5 percent were linked to domestic terrorism.

Foreign spies operating in Spain were also highlighted as a threat. The CSN report stated that the decision to expel 27 Russian diplomats from Spain at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was useful in this regard. “These expulsions significantly reduced their ability to operate on European territory, which led to a notable decrease in the rate of activity of foreign intelligence services in Spain,” the report states.

READ ALSO: Judge in Spain extends probe into Catalan separatist’s ‘Russia ties’

However, the potential threat from the Kremlin is again mentioned as the driving force behind the barrage of hoaxes and disinformation campaigns. In the case of Spain, Moscow reportedly “focuses on trying to spread a distorted image of migration in the Mediterranean and the situation in Ceuta and Melilla”.

But it’s not just the Russians attempting to misinform the public in Spain. The report also points to “official Chinese media and their propagandists on social networks in Spanish have amplified many pro-Russian narratives”, with messages “based on expressing a rejection of the US and the current international order”.

The report lists 83 Russian disinformation incidents and 12 Chinese in the last year alone. Among these, several were aimed at “creating mistrust” in Spain’s electoral processes.

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