Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares illustrated radio listening report of a recent Radio Exterior de España broadcast.
Carlos notes:
Part of Radio Nacional de España news coverage (in Spanish) of catastrophic rains in Valencia, Spain. Listened in Juiz de Fora, Brazil.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors, Paul Jamet and Tracy Wood for sharing the following article (translated into English) from RTVE:
The RTVE Board of Directors has unanimously approved the purchase, installation, and implementation of a new shortwave transmitter. This is the first of five new transmitters that Radio Exterior de España (REE) urgently needs to guarantee the continuity of this public service.
The new transmitters will replace the current equipment, which has far exceeded its useful life and whose frequent breakdowns put the continuity of shortwave broadcasts at risk. They will be responsible for carrying the shortwave signal to West Africa, the Middle East, North America, and South America.
With this decision, RTVE fulfills its public service obligation set out in the Framework Mandate and in Law 17/2006 of June 5, which establishes that the Corporation must “aim to serve the widest audience, ensuring maximum continuity and geographic and social coverage, with the commitment to offer quality, diversity, innovation, and ethical standards.”
This is a great advance that ensures the continuity of REE’s public service to Spaniards who are outside our borders and to foreigners interested in Spain. This commitment by the Corporation comes after years of uncertainty. In 2014, the closure of REE’s shortwave was implemented for a few months. It was in 2018 that an eight-hour daily shortwave broadcast was achieved again.
The power of shortwave
REE’s shortwave carries the voice and vision of Spain to the entire world. For this reason, the director of the station, Luis Manuel Fernández Iglesias, has advocated in his speech before the RTVE Board of Directors to “involve the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Culture of Spain in the future of Radio Exterior, both in the design of its programming and in the financing of this public international broadcaster, such as REE.”
As seen in the invasion of Ukraine, shortwave escapes control and censorship, guaranteeing the democratic right to truthful and honest information. Another advantage is its free nature for listeners and the low cost and investment needed for its reception anywhere. These circumstances make it very attractive, especially for fishermen, merchant seamen, missionaries, or Spanish volunteers who carry out their work where the internet signal does not reach.
Radio Exterior de España transmits its programming on Short Wave from its broadcasting center in Noblejas (Toledo). Source: RTVE
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia, who shares the following announcement from Radio Exterior de España (originally in Spanish):
We inform you that the next few days December 4-5 Radio Exterior de España will be forced to suspend its shortwave broadcasts.
The reason: a cut in the electricity supply, beyond our control, which will affect the shortwave emitting center that Radio Exterior has in the town of Noblejas. The break is due to work that the Unión Fenosa company has to do in the electrical substation from that Toledo municipality and that will affect our facilities.
Consequently, shortwave emission will be suspended next Monday, December 4 and will last until Wednesday, December 6, which will be when the signal resumes.
We apologize for this incident, completely unrelated to the will of Radio Exterior de España.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who shares the following in reply to our recent post about the REE 2020 summer broadcast schedule:
Thomas:
I heard this schedule announced on Wednesday evening myself and my iPhone translated it. But it is at odds with the schedule posted on Glenn Hauser’s WoR io group site a couple of days ago:
De lunes a viernes, para África Occidental y Atlántico sur, Oriente Medio e Índico, desde las 15 horas hasta las 23 horas UTC (Tiempo Universal Coordinado), 17 a 01 hora oficial española.
Las frecuencias de emisión:
– África Occidental y Atlántico sur, 11.670 Khz., banda de 25 metros.
– Oriente Medio e Índico, 15.520 Khz, banda de 19 metros.
Hacia América del norte y sur, Radio Exterior de España transmite en onda corta, de lunes a viernes, de 18 a 02 horas UTC, 20 a 04 hora oficial española.
Las frecuencias de emisión:
– América del sur, 11.940 Khz, banda de 25 metros.
– América del norte, 17.855 Khz, banda de 16 metros.
Los sábados y domingos, transmite su señal de 14 a 22 horas UTC, 16 a 24 hora oficial española. Frecuencias de emisión y las zonas de cobertura :
– África Occidental y Atlántico sur, 11.670 Khz, banda de 25 metros.
– América del sur, 11.940 Khz, banda de 25 metros.
– América del norte, 17.855 Khz, banda de 16 metros.
– Oriente Medio e Índico, 15.520 Khz, banda de 19 metros.
Los cambios de programación y frecuencias son efectivos desde el 27de marzo de 2022 hasta el 30 de octubre de 2022.
This is a more typical summer schedule for REE when they switch from 9690 kHz for NA, which gives excellent reception in NB, for a much higher frequency, which is not as good especially later in the evening.
As I mentioned in the group:
“I guess the REE announcers didn’t get the memo about this schedule.” 😉
All the best
— Richard
Thank you so much for sharing this, Richard! I bet you’re right: someone simply didn’t get the most updated memo! 🙂
Many thanks to to SWLing Post contributor, Mad Radio DXer UK, who writes:
Hello Thomas,
I want to let you & your followers know of the shortwave summer schedule for Radio Exterior de España which they have announced on their recent transmissions.
I have a link below to a recording which I did a translation of, but I have provided a breakdown of their summer schedule…
Mon to Fri – 1500 to 2300 hrs UTC:
11685 kHz – for West Africa & South Atlantic
12030 kHz – for Middle East & Indian Ocean
——————————————————–
Mon to Fri – 1800 to 0200 hrs UTC:
9690 kHz – for North America
11940 kHz – for South America
———————————————————
Weekends:
Same frequencies & target areas as Mon to Fri, instead transmission times are from 1400 to 2200 hrs UTC.
Just something to note of REE on shortwave. Myself & others have noticed that they sometimes transmit on frequencies not listed. I don’t know why this happens. My guess is that they sometimes have transmitter issues. I know that after the bad weather events which have affected the Madrid regions over the past year or so, some of their shortwave transmissions were absent for a while until they were restored. A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to their 12030 kHz & it suddenly went off the air. 9690 kHz was also off. The only frequency I could still receive was 11685 kHz, so maybe they are still having transmitter issues every now & again even though there have not been any recent weather related incidents affecting the Noblejas area. Maybe this might clear some doubt as to any confusion for unlisted transmissions.
Link to video…
Click here to view on YouTube.
Regards,
Mad Radio DXer UK
Great info! Thank you so much for sharing this info and recording!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mangosman, for sharing the following press release from Radio Exterior de España. Please note that the original press release was in Spanish and can be viewed at RTVE Comunicación. What follows is a machine translation:
Radio Exterior de España transmits its programming on Short Wave from its broadcasting center in Noblejas (Toledo). Source: RTVE
Radio Exterior de España, the international channel of Radio Nacional de España, offers an open window to truthful information in times of war through Short Wave. The Russian attack on the Kiev communications tower has silenced several television channels. The Internet and social networks are easily controllable, and the telecommunications infrastructure that provides Internet service is highly vulnerable to attack.
True to its commitment to public service, the Short Wave broadcasts of Radio Exterior de España, in Spanish and Russian, are the only Spanish ones that can publicize the reality of the invasion, its repercussions, the testimonies and the demonstrations of solidarity to the Ukrainian population directly. They can be easily received with affordable receivers and you cannot control who is listening to them, unlike online radio broadcasts.
Radio Exterior de España transmits its programming on Short Wave from its broadcasting center in Noblejas (Toledo) to Ukraine and Russia, thus preventing any type of control or censorship by the Russian army. Any citizen from the war zone can access a proven, serious, truthful and honest source of information.
With broadcasts in English, French, Arabic, Portuguese, Sephardic and Russian, Radio Exterior de España offers its listeners the transmission of all the national and international events that arouse the interest of world public opinion regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its global consequences. A work that is enriched by the live testimony of the correspondents and special envoys of Radio Nacional de España to the conflict zone and its area of ??influence.
Radio Exterior de España’s short wave broadcasts for Ukraine and Russia are broadcast in Spanish from 5:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. Spanish time (4:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. UTC) and in Russian from 7:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Spanish time (6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. UTC time).
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tracy Wood, who shares the following article and translation:
Radio Exterior de España’s “Amigos de la Onda Corta” latest show marks the history of the 50 years of the Noblejas Broadcast Center.
Program Summary (loose translation)
Noblejas is the voice of Spain in the world, the only shortwave site that Radio Exterior de España currently has to broadcast the country’s events.
The RNE Shortwave Broadcast Center No. 2 was inaugurated on July 21, 1971. It is the largest space in dimensions that the Spanish Radio Television Corporation currently has. For half a century, Noblejas has been the voice of Spain to the world, the only transmission site that Radio Exterior de España currently has after the closure of the centers in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1982, Arganda del Rey (Madrid) in 1985 and Cariari de Pococí (Costa Rica) in 2013. It occupies 144 hectares (355 acres) and has a main building with three floors offering 8,000 square meters of useful area, housing four transmitters with which the REE signal is transmitted to all of the Americas, West Africa, the South Atlantic, the Middle East, and the Indian Ocean. The antenna field consists of 27 directional curtain arrays that encompass some three kilometers in length. The Noblejas transmission center has been operating for 50 years. It was only absent for two months (from October to December 2014) when the government wanted to halt REE shortwave broadcasts (ed. – RTVE budget cuts.) Fortunately, the broadcasts returned, and listeners still can enjoy eight hours of daily broadcasting on that band.
(The “Amigos” program notes the station still has available four 100 kilowatt units capable of 6-26 Mhz. REE broadcasts in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Arabic, Russian, English and Sefardí.)
Spanish Audio is here:
https://www.rtve.es/play/audios/amigos-de-la-onda-corta/amigos-onda-corta-50-anos-del-centro-emisor-noblejas-15-07-21/5987840/
Documentary film clip of Francisco Franco at the station’s inauguration is here starting at the 50-second mark:
https://www.rtve.es/filmoteca/no-do/not-1490/1486589/