From 'Andalusian dog' to Spanish lord: TVE staff denounce 'authoritarian' Manu Sánchez

The USO and CGT unions have reported the working system of 'El perro andaluz', Manu Sánchez's show on Spanish public broadcaster TVE, over shifts of more than 12 hours and up to 10 consecutive days, and USO also criticizes the host's "authoritarian" treatment of technicians. CGT has taken the agreement that allows this to the Labor Inspectorate.

Manu Sánchez's show on Televisión Española has been on air for months and has also been generating a labor dispute for months, one that has now come to light. The USO union has circulated an internal statement among RTVE staff denouncing "disrespectful behavior" by the host toward professionals at the public corporation, whom he allegedly ridiculed in front of the live audience. The show is called **El perro andaluz** and has aired on TVE since June 2026.

According to that statement, Manu Sánchez allegedly publicly disparaged RTVE professionals, questioned production decisions and asked for technicians to be removed over errors that would not be their responsibility. USO sums up the situation with a phrase that leaves little room for doubt: "Plenty of pogre in front of the cameras, but manners toward workers more befitting the most authoritarian of bosses." The union describes his attitude as "authoritarian" and insists that RTVE staff "are not there to put up with disrespect."

## An agreement that allows twelve-hour shifts

The discontent is not only about treatment. The show's working system relies on an agreement between RTVE's Human Resources management and the corporation's Inter-Center Committee that allows shifts longer than **12 hours**, up to **10 consecutive days** of work, and requires technicians to make a "maximum daily effort." CGT has reported this agreement to the **Labor Inspectorate** and points out that such a deal cannot worsen the conditions of the Collective Agreement or the Workers' Statute, which is exactly what happens with 12-hour shifts or rest periods of less than 12 hours between shifts. The union adds that such an agreement cannot be negotiated once a production has already begun.

USO makes the same point and highlights a detail that undermines the excuse: the system had been applied since **August**, two months before the agreement between management and the Inter-Center Committee was signed. The union's question is who authorized those special shifts. USO did not sign the agreement, and neither did CGT. Only RTVE's largest unions signed it: **UGT**, **CCOO** and the Independent Union.

The RTVE agreement allows special deals for productions that justify them. What it does not allow, according to USO, is turning poor organization into an excuse to extend shifts and drive up recording costs. Worker sources point directly at the host as the source of the chaos: "He disappears and it is the workers who pay for the disorder," they say. USO also stresses that the agreement does not officially recognize the effort of those who kept the show going since June, nor does it guarantee the right to rest.

## 7,028,942 euros through September

The labor dispute has an economic dimension that helps put it in perspective. **El perro andaluz** has cost the public broadcaster **7,028,942 euros** through September 2026 alone, according to RTVE transparency data. It is the public channel's highest budget, behind only David Broncano's **La revuelta**, with 31,884,854 euros allocated to the production company El Terrat, and the series **Valle Salvaje**, by StudioCanal Series, with 16,320,000 euros through the same date.

The transparency figure corresponds only to the contract with the production company **16 Escalones**. To that amount must be added spending on technical staff, because the show is produced with the participation of RTVE's teams and the support of the Andalusia Production Center. Those costs have soared in recent months as a result of the "organizational chaos" denounced by the unions, which forces workers to work shifts far beyond those allowed by the Collective Agreement.

The public corporation describes the format as comedy, although it is heavy on political opinion. The host is one of the channel's most committed voices for its political message, and that contrast between discourse and manners is precisely what USO uses to build its complaint. The Labor Inspectorate now has the ball in its court: it must decide whether the agreement signed at RTVE fits within the legal framework. Meanwhile, the show remains on air and technicians continue working under conditions the unions consider illegal. It is worth remembering that the union complaints are allegations that have not yet been resolved by the labor authorities.