How to watch Spanish TV from abroad
Outside Spain, your home apps lock you out. See what still works, what goes dark, and how a Spanish server brings it all back.
You left Spain. Here is how to get your shows back
Spanish streaming is generous at home and strict the moment you cross the border. RTVE Play stops dead, Atresplayer and Mitele refuse to load, Movistar Plus+ drops out, and LaLiga goes black because the rights end at the Spanish coastline. The fix has not changed in years: a VPN with a Spanish server puts a Spanish address back on your connection and the apps behave as if you never left. Ten minutes and you are watching again.
What actually breaks when you travel
- RTVE Play: tightly geoblocked, with only a thin international slice available abroad.
- Atresplayer and Mitele: both stop the moment you leave Spain.
- Movistar Plus+: the app checks your location and refuses to stream.
- LaLiga on DAZN and Movistar: Spanish rights are limited to Spain, so matches are blacked out.
- Netflix and Prime Video: they still run, but you get the local catalogue, not your Spanish one.
How a Spanish server puts it right
Install a VPN, connect to Madrid or Barcelona first, then open the app, not the other way round. The service reads a Spanish viewer and the content loads. If you hit a proxy or location error, sign out, clear the app cache, switch to a different Spanish city and sign back in. That sequence clears almost every block.
What separates a VPN that works from one that does not
- Spanish servers in several cities: more locations mean more fallbacks when one gets flagged.
- Real speed: HD and 4K need headroom, not a line that buffers.
- Enough devices at once: the phone, the laptop and the TV in the room.
- A proper TV app: Apple TV, Android TV or Fire TV, or set it on the router and forget it.
- A track record with streaming: a provider that keeps working with RTVE Play and the rest.
All ratings
Since launching in Spain in March 2019, DAZN España has grown into the country’s busiest home for live sport. This is the Spanish market service of DAZN, a paid platform run by the London based DAZN Group, and it carries five LaLiga EA Sports matches every matchday on rights now secured through 2032. Around that football core sits the Premier League, exclusive in Spain through 2027/28, plus the Formula 1 and MotoGP world championships, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, Copa del Rey, Copa Libertadores, boxing and the FIFA World Cup 2026. You can stream in up to 4K with HDR across web, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Fire TV, Chromecast and smart TVs, with two streams at once. Subscriptions come in several tiers, and access is limited to Spain.
Movistar Plus+ is Spain’s premium streaming service, owned by the telecoms group Telefónica. It blends prestige Spanish originals such as La Mesías, La Unidad and Hierro with live LaLiga and Champions League football, films and live channels, and since 2026 a free ad-supported tier sits below its paid plans. Everything is licensed for Spain only, so the app reaches just 1 country and stays blocked elsewhere. A VPN with a Spanish IP address restores full access from abroad.
3Cat is the free streaming service of CCMA, the Catalan public broadcaster. Launched on 30 October 2023, it brought the on-demand libraries of television channel TV3 and radio station Catalunya Ràdio, along with every digital production, under a single brand for the first time. It costs nothing and asks for no subscription. Signing up is optional and only adds favourites and the ability to resume where you left off. Everything streams in Catalan: drama series, films, documentaries, the Super3 children’s channel, live TV3 feeds and rolling news. Its flagship is Crims, the true-crime series by journalist Carles Porta, which in March 2026 set a record with roughly four million devices. 3Cat proves a Catalan-language public platform can stand up to the global giants.
IB3 is the free public broadcaster of the Balearic Islands in Spain, run by EPRTVIB from Calvià on Mallorca. The key thing to know is that it broadcasts in Catalan, specifically the Balearic variety. Its on-demand service at totib3.org carries regional news, own series, documentaries, a kids block and local football, mainly RCD Mallorca and Atlètic Balears. The channel launched in 2005. Official information about access outside Spain is not stated.
CanalSur Más is the free streaming service of RTVA (Radio y Televisión de Andalucía), the public broadcaster of Andalusia in southern Spain, headquartered in Seville. Launched in March 2022 to replace the older „Canal Sur a la Carta“, it opens up nearly three decades of regional television archive. You can browse Andalusian cinema, documentaries, history programmes, news and beloved copla and flamenco shows such as „Se llama Copla“, alongside several live TV signals and live radio. Everything is in Spanish with a proud Andalusian focus, and it stays 100 percent free, supported by advertising and needing no sign-up. It plays on the web, iOS, Android, Mac, Apple TV and Samsung smart TVs in 1080p HD. Note that on-demand titles are geo-restricted to Spain, though some live channels reach further afield.
Tivify is a Spanish live TV aggregator, not an on-demand film library in the mould of Netflix. Rather than a catalogue of series to stream, it brings together more than three hundred television channels, the vast majority of them free-to-air terrestrial signals you can watch at no cost whatsoever. Run by TV UP Streaming Media since its 2020 launch, it targets viewers who want ordinary broadcast TV on their phone, tablet and computer. What sets Tivify apart is everything it wraps around the live feed: seven-day catch-up, the option to restart a programme already in progress, and cloud recording. Higher tiers add more storage, viewing on two devices at once, and premium channels including AMC, AXN and Mezzo. We should be upfront, though: you can only sign up with a Spanish address and card, and the line-up is mostly in Spanish. A paid Plus or Premium plan does travel with you across the EEA and the UK under EU portability rules, but the free tier stays locked to Spain.
À Punt is the public broadcaster of the Valencian Community in Spain, broadcasting mainly in Valencian, a variety of Catalan, alongside some Spanish. It is run by the public corporation CVMC, since January 2025 through the company CACVSA, with headquarters in Burjassot near Valencia. Its free “a la carta” on-demand service was relaunched on 22 May 2025 and follows the TV channel that began regular programming on 10 June 2018. You will find series led by L’Alqueria Blanca, films, documentaries, news, live TV, and sport such as Valencian pilota, basketball and cycling, plus the kids’ brand La Colla. Everything is completely free and registration is optional. Its own Valencian productions stream widely, while licensed titles like The Chosen and Shetland are geo-restricted to Spain.
Few streaming services dare what acontra+ does: its Premium plan hands you one cinema ticket every single month, redeemable for an A Contracorriente film currently on the big screen. Rather than poaching audiences from theatres, the platform casts itself as their ally, building a bridge between watching at home and the ritual of going out. Behind it sits A Contracorriente Films, the well regarded Spanish distributor and producer established in 2009, and the catalogue reflects that pedigree: arthouse, European and Spanish auteur cinema and series, the company’s own line alongside carefully chosen titles. acontra+ blends subscription viewing with one-off rentals, on monthly or yearly terms. Expect a seven-day free trial, up to five simultaneous screens and Full HD. It operates in Spain.
AGalega is the free streaming service of CRTVG, the public broadcaster of Galicia in Spain. It launched in January 2024 to replace the older “TVG á carta” and runs entirely in Galician, making it the largest Galician-language platform anywhere. You get the live TVG, G2 and G24 channels, news, original drama, documentaries, animation, the Xabarín kids channel and podcasts, around 1,400 titles in total. CRTVG’s own productions are free worldwide for the Galician diaspora, while licensed films and Celta Vigo’s LaLiga football are limited to Spain.
Agile TV is a Spanish pay-TV service sold through regional operators such as Euskaltel, R and telecable, or on its own with a dedicated box. It runs on an Android TV device with up to 4K, combining live channels with on-demand movies, series and kids content. You get seven-day catch-up, cloud recording, built-in Chromecast and viewing on several devices. The Premium tier adds LaLiga TV Hypermotion, Spain’s second football division rather than the top flight.
Aragón TV is the free public broadcaster of the Aragón region in Spain, run by CARTV from Zaragoza. The a la carta service gathers regional news, in-house programmes, documentaries and free-to-air football from Real Zaragoza and SD Huesca. Its own content, roughly 80 percent of the schedule, reaches viewers worldwide through the Aragón TV INT international feed, while licensed films and live sport stay inside Spain. The channel launched in 2006 and streams in HD, in Castilian Spanish.
Atresplayer is the streaming home of Spain’s Atresmedia, running a freemium model: free, ad-supported catch-up of channels like Antena 3 and laSexta plus a wall of FAST channels, with a premium tier that unlocks bold originals such as Veneno, Cardo and Drag Race España and early premieres before broadcast. Everything is licensed for Spain, so the service reaches just 1 country and is blocked elsewhere. A VPN with a Spanish IP address restores full access from abroad.
Canarias Play is the free streaming service of RTVC, the public broadcaster of the Canary Islands, launched in January 2026 and built together with Telefónica. It carries live TV and radio, news, original series, documentaries, full Carnival coverage and sport, including UD Las Palmas football. Built around a strong Canarian identity and aimed at the islands’ diaspora, it offers RTVC’s own content free worldwide, while licensed cinema and series stay limited to Spain.
CMMPlay is the free streaming service of Castilla-La Mancha Media (CMM, formerly RTVCM), the regional public broadcaster of Castilla-La Mancha in central Spain, based in Toledo. It launched on 16 October 2018, billed as the first on-demand platform from a Spanish regional public television. The service brings together live TV and live radio, catch-up episodes through its „RePlay“ section, regional sport such as football, futsal, handball and cycling, podcasts under „PlayPódcast“, and original short films and documentaries via „D.O.Play“, with an archive reaching back to 2001. Everything is 100% free and ad-supported, with no mandatory sign-up; an optional profile simply saves your favourites and recommendations. Content is in Spanish, and note that rights-bound on-demand titles are available only from within Spain.
EXPlay is the free streaming platform of Canal Extremadura (CEXMA), the public broadcaster of Extremadura in Spain. It was rebranded from “Canal Extremadura a la carta” in April 2026 and offers Extremadura Noticias newscasts, sport, weather, regional programmes, documentaries and radio. It runs on a wide range of devices, from Apple TV and Fire TV to Samsung, LG and Android TV sets. Almost everything is made in-house and free worldwide, with only a small share of licensed content restricted to Spain.
Filmin is a Spanish subscription service, born in Barcelona, devoted to arthouse, independent and European cinema. It was founded in 2007 by Juan Carlos Tous, Jaume Ripoll and José Antonio de Luna, and reached viewers a year later. Its catalogue runs to some fifteen thousand titles: feature films first, but also documentaries, series, shorts and themed collections built by hand. What sets Filmin apart is editorial curation rather than an algorithmic feed, guided by its long-standing promise of a film for every viewer. Each summer it streams the Atlàntida Mallorca Film Fest, and in January 2026 it was named, for the fifth year running, Spain’s finest digital cultural venture. Picture quality reaches Full HD, and the service is available in Spain and Portugal.
FlixOlé is the definitive home of Spanish film heritage, the largest streaming catalogue of Spanish cinema ever assembled and often called the Netflix of Spanish classics. It was founded in 2017 by Enrique Cerezo, a veteran producer and distributor who also presides over the Atlético de Madrid football club, and it opened to the wider public in late 2018. The library holds more than four thousand five hundred titles. Its heart is the golden age of Spanish cinema, roughly the 1940s to the 1980s, alongside modern Spanish features, vintage Hollywood from the RKO vaults, and Italian and French classics. Much of the collection has been restored in high definition, with a 4K restoration programme reviving cult works frame by frame. New and freshly restored titles arrive every month. The service is available in Spain.
La 7 TV is the free regional public channel of the Región de Murcia in Spain, operated under private concession by CBM, part of Grupo Secuoya. The focus sits firmly on the live channel: local Murcia news, regional programmes and local sport, namely Real Murcia, UCAM Murcia and the ElPozo Murcia futsal side. This is not a film or series library but a classic live channel. It launched in 2006, and its website is la7tv.es.
Mediaset Infinity is a Spanish streaming service run by Mediaset España, part of the MFE group, and it took over from the older Mitele platform in June 2025. It costs nothing, runs on advertising, and you can sign up without a payment card. The lineup covers live linear channels including Telecinco, Cuatro, FDF, Divinity, Energy, Be Mad and Boing, alongside full archives of reality hits such as Gran Hermano, Supervivientes, La isla de las tentaciones and First Dates, plus drama series, digital exclusives and original productions. If you would rather skip the ads, download titles offline and reach exclusive films and early premieres, there is a paid Infinity+ tier in Básico and Familiar flavours, with an Infinity+ Internacional option for Spaniards living abroad. Everything is in Spanish, and licensing keeps the catalogue locked to Spain, so a Spanish IP address is what unlocks it from elsewhere.
Primeran is a free streaming platform in Basque (euskara), run by EITB, the Basque public broadcaster, headquartered in Bilbao. Launched on 15 September 2023, it is the largest free streaming service in the Basque language. The catalogue holds around 7,000 titles, including series, films, documentaries, music and concerts, plus Basque originals such as Desagertuta and Argi Gorriak. Kids’ programming lives on a companion platform, MAKUSI. Primeran is completely free and ad supported, requiring only a no cost registration. EITB’s own productions stream worldwide, making it a Basque window for the diaspora, though roughly 23 percent of the licensed catalogue is geo restricted abroad, most notably in the French Basque Country. You can watch on the web, on mobile apps, and across smart TVs, with offline downloads and HD playback.
RTPA is the free public broadcaster of Asturias in Spain, built around the channels TPA7 and TPA8 and based in Gijón. Under TPA a la carta you get regional news, films, documentaries, a kids strand, programmes in the Asturian language and local sport, chiefly Real Sporting de Gijón and Real Oviedo. The 24/7 live channel and the in-house catalogue stream worldwide for the Asturian diaspora, while licensed cinema and some sport stay inside Spain. Broadcasting started in 2006, and 2026 marks its 20th anniversary.
RTVE Play is the free on-demand service of Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE, the Spanish equivalent of BBC iPlayer. With no subscription and no ads it streams live channels such as La 1, La 2 and the 24-hour news channel, catch-up and originals, headed by the hit period drama La Promesa. Much of the catalogue is geo-blocked outside Spain, so the service effectively serves just 1 country. A VPN with a Spanish IP address restores full access from abroad.
simyoTV is the cloud TV add-on from simyo, the budget Spanish operator, which went live in spring 2026. There is no set-top box to plug in. You just need a simyo fibre line, and everything runs in the cloud. It carries more than 90 live channels alongside the full lineup of Spanish national and regional stations, on-demand titles and a SkyShowtime subscription. Cloud recording, seven-day catch-up, restart and downloads come built in, with no contract. Sport stays light, just Eurosport and Tennis Channel.
TLMad+ is the free, ad-supported streaming platform of Telemadrid (RTVM), the public broadcaster for the Comunidad de Madrid, which went live in May 2026. It streams the Telemadrid, LaOtra and Onda Madrid channels, with news shows such as Madrid Directo and 120 minutos, plus series, films, documentaries, culture and sport through Fútbol Directo. Telemadrid’s own productions are available broadly worldwide, while licensed films, sport and bullfighting are restricted to Spain.
Why it is locked, and what to expect away from home
Why Spanish streaming shuts you out at the border
It comes down to rights. A service buys the licence to show content in Spain, not worldwide, so the moment you are elsewhere it has to fence the catalogue off or shrink it to what it may legally stream there. Even RTVE Play is affected, because most of its library is cleared for Spain only. Football is the strictest of all, with LaLiga locked tight to Spanish territory.
Is a VPN allowed for this
In the vast majority of countries a VPN is a perfectly legal tool, and Spanish expats rely on one constantly. Unblocking a catalogue is a question of a service’s terms of use, not criminal law, so stay on an account you pay for and respect each platform’s rules.
Who actually needs this
- Expats and remote workers: keeping RTVE Play and home series while living overseas.
- Students on Erasmus or abroad: a tie back to Spanish news and the shows everyone is talking about.
- Football fans: following LaLiga through Spanish apps from any time zone.
- Travellers and holidaymakers: not losing a series mid-run because of a trip.
- Language learners: native Spanish TV is one of the best ways to keep an ear in.
The mistake that wastes an evening
Two slip-ups cause most failures: connecting to the wrong country, and a VPN too slow for video. Pick a Spanish city on purpose, choose a provider fast enough for HD, and if a service still will not play, switch Spanish cities and clear the cache before you blame the app.
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Watching Spanish TV from anywhere: FAQ
Everything you need to know about geo-blocks, VPNs and borderless streaming.