Iglesias proposes using government to redistribute TV licenses

Iglesias proposes redistributing Mediaset and Atresmedia licenses

Pablo Iglesias is not calling for the nationalization of private television. He is proposing something more subtle and, at the same time, more ambitious: that the government use its power over the licenses of Mediaset and Atresmedia — which are public concessions — to decide how much plurality is broadcast on the channels. The proposal, launched on his own social media, reopens an issue that is never fully closed: who distributes television permits and by what criteria. And it leaves an uncomfortable question hanging. If the permit belongs to the state, why isn't it being used?

What is Iglesias proposing with television licenses?

The reasoning stems from a symmetry that he considers self-evident. When the right governs, he argues, it turns public television into what he calls "telefacha" (a derogatory term for right-wing media); when it doesn't govern, it still has the private oligopoly at its disposal. His formulation is literal: if the licenses of these groups are public, "why not use the government to democratize and ensure plurality in private channels?". He does not specify mechanisms, deadlines, or the legal framework. He leaves the idea hanging and lets others do the dirty work.

The nuance: a lack of left-wing media

Then came the clarification that many overlooked. Journalists and companies aligned with the PSOE, he said, have the right to exist; the problem is different: while the right organizes its media fronts and controls almost everything, there are hardly any left-wing media left. The statement inverts the fashionable diagnosis. It's not that there's too much official propaganda; it's that there's a lack of our own counter-propaganda. That's the crux of the matter.

The two versions of media bias in Spain

The controversy always gets stuck on the same wall. One side argues that Spanish private media are not right-wing, but quite the opposite: that their editorial line pushes pogre agendas. The response from the other side is that La Sens belongs to Atresmedia and that the ownership of the major groups does not align with this supposed shift. No one provides content audits. Perceptions are discussed, and in that arena, there is no possible winner.

Why licenses matter so much

A broadcasting license is not bought on an open market: Iglesias himself recalls that those of the oligopoly are public concessions. This makes any threat of reallocation a first-order regulatory lever. The idea does not delve into technical details, and perhaps that's why it works: whoever decides the licenses decides the map of voices. The existence of that margin is precisely what he takes for granted when asking why it isn't used.

From Trump and Kimmel to Telemadrid

Comparisons have done much of the work. One participant mentions the case of Jimmy Kimmel, who was off the air for two days, and discusses whether there was legal pressure from Washington. Against this, another line recalls that when the right governs in Madrid, it places profiles aligned with its ideology at the head of Telemadrid. The exchange does not seek to prove who is worse, but to justify intervention: if they do it, why shouldn't we? The argument of "you too," audiovisual version.

Canal Red and the suspicion of self-interest

Here the matter becomes less theoretical. Some argue that the proposal does not pursue abstract plurality, but an additional license for Canal Red, the media outlet run by Iglesias. The suspicion is not new and explains why even those who share the diagnosis distrust the messenger. The final section adds another ingredient: his return to teaching, first in the public competition for a substitute professor position in Political Science at the Complutense University.

The lawsuit that adds noise

Iglesias announced that Judge Peinado is filing a lawsuit against RTVE, against him, against Óscar Puente, and several journalists. He presented this as proof that some people cannot tolerate freedom of expression or the fact that the right does not control public media in the same way as private ones. The move fits his usual strategy: turning every legal dispute into an argument.

With licenses as a lever, the PSOE has a tool in hand that it has not used and probably will not use. Touching the permits of two private groups is stepping into a puddle of unpredictable consequences. Iglesias knows this, and that's why he insists. What is predictable is not a real change, but that the idea will continue to feed a mental framework: that the audiovisual distribution is a political decision and not a simple market.