HBO to Launch in Spain

HBO to Launch in Spain

With HBO coming to Spain that's great news for TV addicts

Combining the Spanish with TV and Cinemas has always been a bit of an odd combination. Think about it; Spain is a country that is packed with stunning landscapes, mountains, cities, beaches and people. The weather is always lovely and the culture is a very outdoors one. Then add in a television; something designed to keep you inside and in the dark.

Television certainly makes a lot of sense in the wet and dismal weather of the UK, which is why there is some excellent British TV.

The Spanish have never really needed much television though. They have a whole country to serve as their entertainment. Even if a Spaniard would turn on the TV it wouldn’t take them long to regret it because Spanish TV has just never been good.

Things have changed recently however with the rising popularity of online on-demand TV services including Netflix, Sky Go and Amazon Now. The Spanish of today can enjoy great shows from around the world and they’ve been taking to these online services at a rapid rate.

This is likely the reason that the US Home Box Office TV network HBO recently announced they would be launching HBO España. No one is quite sure on the details right now, but HBO are the creative force behind hit TV shows including Girls, True Detective and Game of Thrones. They simply announced that the service would be “coming very soon”; a message that was repeated by Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Nikolaj made the announcement while filming season seven of Game of Thrones which is, coincidentally enough, being filmed in Spain.

HBO are offering the service through a streaming platform powered by Vodafone. It’s expected that it will cost €7.99 a month and that customers who aren’t with Vodafone will still be able to sign up to the service. HBO España is set to launch with over 3,000 titles including a movies straight from Hollywood, documentaries, and also children’s TV.

British Expats Launch Legal Appeal Against President Jean-Claude Juncker of the European Commission

 British Expats Launch Legal Appeal Against President Jean-Claude Juncker of the European Commission

Its clear too all that the commissioner

has a problem with Britain

Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the European Commission, has taken a strong stance on the UK following the Brexit vote from this past June. He has said time and again that there shouldn’t be any official negotiations between the EU and the UK until the British government invokes Article 40 – the clause in the EU agreement that triggers the two-year withdrawal process a country has on their way out of the Union.

Many expats from across the EU as a whole disagree with this stance and have launched the organisation called Fair Deal for expats. They hope to launch official action against Juncker in the general court of the EU in Luxembourg.

The main grievance the Fear Deal for Expats group has is that because Juncker is forcing the UK to invoke Article 50 before beginning negotiations he is cutting off the chance for diplomacy before this happens.

The chief of the EC has stated that he wants to make it difficult for the UK to benefit from leaving the EU. Given what his job entails it makes sense for him to have this stance but it also alienates and restricts millions of people in the EU, especially British expats who have been living, working in Spain and prospering in European countries such as Spain, France and Germany.

Juncker said back in June that he had used his power as the president to forbid Commissioners from talking with representatives from the UK and that such an action goes against his style.

This lack of official dialogue means that hearsay and scaremongering have become the order of the day and the latest reports are suggesting that Brits would need a visa to visit the EU after the Brexit is formally triggered.

Such scaremongering benefits nobody and while Juncker may have tried to protect EU citizens with his actions they have undermined the growing majority of British expats.

John Shaw, the spokesman for Fair Deal for Expats, which is based in France, said that the British and Europeans had gotten used to the antagonistic rhetoric Juncker is known for. He added that they will not stand for his dictatorship and bullying and that enough is enough. Shaw added that while Juncker is demanding that the UK trigger Article 50 without delay he’s also forgetting that they are a member state right now and should be allowed to hold discussion with other member states.

Fair Deal for Expats has also focused their aim on the British government. This coming October they are hoping to block a judicial review that would mean the Prime Minister is solely responsible for triggering Article 50. The group believes that the decision and responsibility should fall on all of Parliament.

Even though there is a lot of uncertainty across Europe at the minute Spain has seen for themselves that the impact of the Brexit is nowhere near as bad as it was feared it would be. At least for Spain and buying property in the Costa del sol and other parts of spain haven't seen a drop in demand which is very encouraging .