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SPAIN EXPLAINED

A quick guide to political bias on Spanish TV and radio

Spanish TV gets a bad rap from foreigners, but it's a window into society and current affairs which can help you integrate. Knowing the political bias of the main TV channels and radio stations will take your understanding one step further.

Published: 6 July 2023 13:58 CEST
political bias spain television radio
What political bias do Spain's main TV channels and radio stations have? (Photo by Jorge Guerrero / AFP)

Familiarising yourself with the media landscape and where you’re getting your information from – which channels are owned by which media group, their biases, their content – is important at the best of times, let alone in a foreign country and in a foreign language.

Besides, watching TV or listening to the radio in Spanish can be a great way of improving your language skills and learning more about Spanish society and culture, so it’s important to know the lay of the land.

It is true that for many foreigners who move to Spain the quality television is not particularly good, seeing it as being mainly made up of panel shows with commentators shouting over each other, and too many ads.

However, around 80 percent of Spaniards watch television and 76 percent listen to the radio, and if you can get past the annoying idiosyncrasies, both mediums can act as a window into what’s going on in Spain and what makes Spaniards tick. 

With this in mind, we’ve broken down the Spanish TV and radio landscape, including the political biases of the main channels and stations, something particularly important during key periods in time, such as national elections.

TELEVISION IN SPAIN

The average Spaniard watches just under three hours of TV a day. There are reportedly 34 national channels that can be accessed through terrestrial TV (with an aerial), most of which are accessible also through digital platforms that encompass TV and home internet (Movistar+, Vodafone, Orange and Yoigo). 

In Spain, three media groups own the main terrestrial TV channels you’re likely to watch.

RTVE owns La 1, La 2, 24 horas: RTVE, full name Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, known as Radiotelevisión Española or simply RTVE, is Spain’s state-owned public public corporation. It’s somewhat comparable to the BBC in that it’s state-owned and supposedly impartial, but like the BBC it’s had its share of bias controversies over the years, though these complaints have come from both the left and right, which probably indicates that RTVE’s channels are largely centrist. Critics of the public corporation say that its biases are less left or right leaning, and are more likely, if anything, to be lightly supportive of the government of the day. It’s responsible for three of the main and most watched channels on Spanish TV: La 1, La 2, and 24 horas, the 24-hour news channel.

Mediaset owns Telecinco and Cuatro: Mediaset is an Italian mass media company founded by Silvio Berlusconi. It owns Cuatro and Telecinco, an entertainment channel.

Atresmedia owns Antena3 and La Sexta: Atresmedia is a Spanish telecommunications group that was born as the result of a merger between two of Spain’s biggest media groups. Interestingly, it is largely because of this merger that Atresmedia runs the two channels in Spain with arguably the most outward political bias: Antena3 and La Sexta, one with a right-wing slant and the other a markedly left-wing bias.

RTVE is Spain’s public broadcaster and arguably the most unbiased of the country’s main TV broadcasters. (Photo by Jorge Guerrero / AFP)
 

TV Channels 

So how about Spain’s main TV channels themselves? What sorts of programming do they run and what, if any, are their political biases?

RTVE – centrist

The RTVE channels (24 horas, La 1, La 2) are generally viewed as the most impartial and centrist channels. Some would say they present the government of the day in a favourable light, which has led to accusations of bias from both the left and right – something that, on balance, probably means it is somewhere in the middle.

Besides news and political coverage, La 1 airs Spanish sitcoms and popular shows such as Masterchef. La 2 on the other hand has a tendency to show more cultural and and international films and content.

Antena3 – centre-right (PP)

Of the major TV channels in Spain, Antena3 is arguably the only with a right leaning bias.

It’s coverage is generally centre-right, perhaps further right than that on certain issues, and politically speaking appeals most to supporters of the centre-right Partido Popular.

There are other smaller TV channels in Spain which are far more openly right-wing and conservative, such as Intereconomía and Trece TV. 

Antena 3’s content includes talk shows, Spanish sitcoms, talent shows, gameshows and blockbuster films, as well as the most watched programme on Spanish TV – celebrity talk show El Hormiguero.

Cuatro – centrist/soft-left (PSOE)

Cuatro is a less outwardly political channel, with most in Spain viewing it as having a centrist or slight left-wing lean. Think more PSOE than Podemos or Sumar. O

ne of its most popular programmes is ‘Callejeros’, a show where reporters are sent around the country to investigate and interview Spanish trends and people, with the spinoff ‘Callejeros Viajeros’ focusing on interviewing Spaniards living abroad.

Cuatro shows a combination of popular Spanish and international content, and its sports programming is also very popular, particularly its sensationalist sports news. Cuatro along with RTVE often has the rights for international tournaments such as the World Cup and the European Championships, and usually has very high viewing figures for these events.

None of Spain’s main TV channels are overtly right wing. (Photo by ANDER GILLENEA / AFP)
 

Telecinco – non-political entertainment

Telecinco is primarily an entertainment channel and broadcasts a lot of reality TV and talk shows. Think bullfighter’s wives, social media influencers, panels discussing the latest trends and celebrity gossip, that sort of thing.

One of its most famous shows has been Gran Hermano – Spain’s answer to Big Brother. Most of Telecinco’s coverage is non-political in nature, unless the stories are more scandal or personality driven.

In 2022 it ranked as one of the second most watched channel in Spain after Antena 3, even though it’s widely referred to as telebasura (trash TV). 

La Sexta – hard left (Podemos/Sumar)

La Sexta is arguably the most blatantly biased of all the major channels in Spain. Its coverage is almost entirely political, and usually has a very left-wing stance, with most contributors and journalists supportive of leftist parties, formerly Podemos and now Sumar, though it will rally around PSOE during election campaigns. Its coverage is noticeably anti-PP and Vox.

It has a myriad of political shows, and has an active, Gonzo style of reporting where it sends hoards of presenters out across the country to speak to Spaniards from all walks of life.

Its primetime shows, notably El Intermedio, feature tongue-in-cheek skits poking fun at politicians and public figures from across the political spectrum, but mostly on the right, of course.

RADIO STATIONS IN SPAIN

More than 31 million Spaniards listen to the radio on a regular basis according to 2022 figures, 76 percent of the country’s population over 14. The main news radio stations are as follows:

Radio Nacional – centrist 

Radio Nacional de España (RNE) is Spain’s national state-owned public service radio broadcaster and part of RTVE. Like RTVE’s TV channels, RNE is on the whole general centrist and tries to be impartial, though probably favours whoever is in government at the time.

Cadena SER – left wing

Cadena SER is a national radio station owned by the Prisa Group, the same media company that owns left-leaning newspaper El País. In recent years it has been the most popular radio station in the country, with around four million listeners, and is generally thought to have a left-leaning bias. Its morning news programme Hoy por Hoy presented by Àngels Barceló is the most popular in the country with 2.8 million daily listeners.

COPE – right wing

COPE, Cadena de Ondas Populares Españolas, has conservative Catholic roots and is owned by the Spanish Episcopal Conference. It originally started as a way of broadcasting religious services but has since branched out and become a more generalist station. COPE is Spain’s second most popular national radio station.

It does maintain some religious content, however, and as you might expect the editorial line is generally socially conservative.

Onda Cero – centre-right

Onda cero is owned by Atresmedia and the third most popular station in Spain. It generally leans towards the right on most issues and is more popular with El Mundo reading, PP voters rather than PSOE.

READ ALSO: A foreigner’s guide to understanding the Spanish press in five minutes

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LEARNING SPANISH

Do people in Spain actually use the formal ‘usted’ form anymore?

It was once common in Spain, but nowadays the formal 'usted' (you) form is rarely used besides in some pretty specific situations. So why is the more informal 'tú' form becoming ever more dominant among Spaniards?

Published: 14 May 2024 11:12 CEST
Updated: 19 May 2024 08:23 CEST
Do people in Spain actually use the formal 'usted' form anymore?

If you live in Spain or spend time here, you’ve probably heard the word tú (you) a fair bit. It’s one of the very first words you learn when learning Spanish, and pretty crucial (obviously).

But you may have also occasionally heard Spanish speakers using the word usted (also meaning you) from time to time too.

It’s far more likely that you hear tú in Spain, but perhaps if you’ve heard a respectful younger Spaniard talking to an elderly neighbour, or their boss on the phone, or even watched something like a political debate or interview on TV, you probably heard usted used.

Similarly, if you have noticed usted being used while out and about in Spain, it could well have been from the large Latino population in Spain, and it’s likely that you heard Colombians, Venezuelans or other Latinos saying it.

READ ALSO: Why Spain has allowed regional languages to be spoken in Congress

Though they do sometimes use it, the use of usted among Spaniards is slightly different, much rarer, and saved for select circumstances.

In fact, it’s becoming so rare in Spain that some feel its usage is dying out completely, if it hasn’t already.

So, what’s going on here?

Usted vs tú

Firstly, let’s start with a definition. According to the Real Academia Española (RAE) usted is a:

“Form which, in the nominative, in the vocative or preceded by a preposition, designates the person addressed by the speaker or writer… [used] generally as a polite, respectful or distancing address.”

Eg) disculpe, ¿sabe usted dónde está el hospital? (excuse me, do you know where the hospital is?)

In understanding the usted form specifically in Castilian Spanish – Spanish spoken in parts of Latin America it can be slightly or very different, depending where you are – that last part of the definition is key: “generally as a polite, respectful or distancing address.”

It’s worth noting that with usted the verbs are conjugated as if they were third-person singular (el as in he or ella as in she), so it’s usted sabe instead of tú sabes. 

Usted is a form used to show respect or seniority: that you understand there’s a hierarchy (in which usted is at the top, so for example when speaking to your boss or someone interviewing you for a job), but also occasionally to mark social distance between two people (because tú could be considered overly friendly in certain situations) and then, finally, it’s also used more generally to show respect in terms of seniority, like when speaking to an elderly person.

Tú vs usted in Spain

Respectfulness is the key word here. In short, if you hear usted used in Spain, it’s probably for a reason.

In Spain, usted is generally only ever used with authority figures, the elderly and in some formal and/or professional settings, but many Spaniards will just skip over it and use the tú form. Tú can be used with everyone else: your friends, partners, neighbours (around your age or younger), siblings, co-workers, kids, and other people you don’t know but are roughly your age or younger.

In fact, in some cases people might actually be offended if you use the usted form because you could be implying that they’re old, a mistake or social faux pas that is somewhat similar to calling a woman señora and then being quickly corrected (usually with a scornful look) that is should be señorita.

In such cases, they may say trátame de tú (treat me as ‘less formal’ you) or me puedes tutear. 

The verb tutear actually means to speak to someone using the more informal tú form. 

The only part of Spain where the plural form of usted – ustedes – is used all the time is the Canary Islands and some parts of southern Andalusia, where locals prefer this form instead of the standard Castillian vosotros (you in plural). That doesn’t mean that they say usted instead of tú in the singular form, this exception only applies to the plural.

Do people actually use the formal usted form anymore in Spain?

Less and less. It’s dying out in Spain, has been for a while, and is now reserved for those rare occasions outlined above. It’s thought by linguistic experts that it began dying out in the 1970s and 1980s.

The use of usted in Castillian Spanish is now very rarely used in casual conversation. In many cases can only be heard in very formal or ceremonial settings, such as in judiciary, the army, or in certain academic culture contexts or events.

In day to day life, usted only really shows up (besides the examples given above) in advertising, something that generally needs to reflect cultural attitudes and keep up with modern day parlance, so now only really uses the usted form in some specific campaigns for financial services or medical products. As such, depending on the context and age of the people involved, you could also hear usted in spoken Spanish in banks and doctors or hospitals.

An article in Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia entitled ‘Usted is dying’ published back in 2012 looked into the disappearance of the formal form in detail. The fact it was published over a decade ago means that, if anything, the trends it discusses have deepened since then and usted is even lesser used than it was then.

“The use of usted has been reserved for very formal campaigns where a kind of protocol respect for the interlocutor is maintained,” Josep Maria Ferrara, founder and creative director of the Paulov advertising agency, told La Vanguardia.

But this was not the case twenty or thirty years ago. A study on the use of tú and usted in advertising at the end of the 1980s showed that the usted form was used for the most part and that only 11 percent of the advertisements analysed used the tú form.

Changing world, changing language?

So, what changed? Secundino Valladares, professor of Anthropology at the Madrid’s Complutense University, says that Spaniards have embraced tú to such an extent “that the phenomenon is now unstoppable; young people, educated in ‘tuteo’ [the use of the tú form] are sweeping to victory with the tú, and as society is dominated by the value of youth… many older people feel flattered if you tú them,” he said.

In Spain in the 1940s and 1950s the usted form was still well established in many parent-child relationships, and in teacher-student relationships until well into the 1970s. But a changing world and progressive, more egalitarian political ideas seems to be partly responsible for the change. Of course, in Spain, this linguistic shift may have something to do with the changing power and interpersonal dynamics of Spanish society as it transitioned from dictatorship to democracy around this time.

Headline by Spanish radio station Cope reads “Speaking to the teacher at school with the usted form must be brought back”.

Sociologist Antonio López pointed to this trend: “The tendency towards a more egalitarian society, towards the loss of hierarchical distances in social relations, means that it does not seem right to establish prior distances and that is why tú is used instead of usted, which for many denotes distance.”

In that sense, the decline in the formal usted form can be understood both in terms of the laid back nature of Castilian Spanish compared with countries in Latin America, but also in terms of language reflecting social change, similarly to how today, in modern day Spain, there is debate over the use of inclusive language and the dominance of the masculine form in Spanish grammar.

READ ALSO: What is Spain’s inclusive language debate and why is it so controversial?

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