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In the context of economic difficulties for the media industry in Spain (partially due to the general economic crisis, but also to specific factors in the sector), the Spanish cabinet has undertaken a drastic reform: the suppression of advertising on the public television broadcaster, Televisión Española (TVE). Since television started in Spain in 1957, it has always operated following a free-to-air model, with a public sector funded partially by the Government, but essentially through advertising. The introduction of commercial television in Spain in 1989 did not result in a change in this model,...

The Catalonian Government is preparing a new Cinema Act which is expected to be approved before the end of this year. One of the multiple questions that this new proposed act deals with is the one related to the promotion of the Catalan language, in the sense that half of the foreign movies shown in the movie theatres in Catalonia will now have to be dubbed into Catalan (a co-official language in Catalonia together with Spanish). And, in the case of foreign movies shown in their original versions, half of them must be subtitled in the Catalan language too. According to Joan Manuel Treserras (Councillor...

On 23 February 2009, the Spanish Government approved a new Decree Law, whose provisions deal with the introduction of Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV) and limits to media ownership. In Spain, laws are generally approved by Parliament, but, in case of urgent need, can also be approved by the Government, by means of a “Decree Law”. In this case, the Government has considered that, in the context of the economic crisis and the switch-off of analogue terrestrial TV, there was an urgent need to change the limits to media ownership in order to allow the national broadcasters to reach, within the new limits,...

The right to privacy and the right to information are considered to be Fundamental Rights by the Spanish Constitution. The former is enshrined in Article 18(1) and the latter in Article 20(1)(d). However, each right limits the other and litigation will normally occur when a party claims the enforcement of one of these rights against another party claiming a defence based on the other right. In such a case, it is up to the court to find the correct balance between the two rights in question. The right to privacy is expanded upon by Ley Orgánica 1/1982 de 5 de mayo, de Protección Civil del Derecho...

In spring 2007, the Spanish Tribunal Supremo (Supreme Court) referred to the Court of Justice of the European Communities (ECJ) for a preliminary ruling a case involving an action brought by the Unión de Televisiones Comerciales Asociadas (Association of Spanish Commercial Televisions - UTECA) against Spanish national legislation implementing the EC Television without Frontiers (TwF) Directive. The legislation in question involves the Royal Decree 1652/2004 and the corresponding legislative provisions on which the decree is based, which require television operators to earmark 5% of their operating...