Spain allows radio amateurs access to the 40 MHz band for another 18-months

Good news! The licencing authorities in Spain have decided to allow radio amateurs there access to the 40 MHz (8m) band for another 18-months!

Here is the story so far...

The national association for radio amateurs in Spain is the URE and back in 2023, they approached the licensing authorities in Spain about permission to use the 40 MHz (8m) band. As a result of their detailed submission, Spanish radio amateurs were allocated the use of 40.650 to 40.750 MHz for a period of 18-months with a maximum power output of 25-watts PEP. See previous post HERE 

As the initial 18-months were coming to an end, the URE compiled a detailed report outlining what the results of the activity on 40 MHz for Spanish radio amateurs and this was published in September 2025.

Some of the key points of the study were...

A) The study went from June of 2024 to July of 2025

B) Contacts with and reports from 60 countries across 6 continents

C) Successful contacts via Sporadic-E with all countries in Europe that allow operation on the 40 MHz (8m) band. Distances recorded were from 500 to 3000 kms

D) Openings via F2 layer propagation to the following countries... Australia,  Canada,  Cuba, the United States, Cayman Islands,  Mexico,  New Zealand,  Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Of particular note were the communications with Australia over 14,000km, with the best day being the 20th. October.

E) Impressive openings with New Zealand (19,467 km) with the reception of The ZL28M beacon, which operates in FT8, is operated by ZL2WHO and works with 10 Watts and a 3-element Yagi antenna pointing towards Europe.

F) Practically daily reception of the ZS6WAB/B beacon in South Africa between March & April 2024 via F2 propagation on the trans-equatorial path.

G) At the time of writing of the report, there was no evidence of any harmful interference to other services on the 40 MHz band.

H) 99.9% of the contacts were made thanks to the use of the FT8 digital mode.

In response to the detailed submission, the Spanish licencing authorities have extended the permission for another 18-months as of from the 18th of October 2025.

They have also increased the power limit from 25-watts to 100-watts PEP.

URE Statement... In welcoming the extension of the 40 MHz permission, the URE said...

“With this new resolution, Spain joins a growing number of European countries —members of CEPT— that allow experimentation in the 40 MHz range, a segment of the spectrum that arouses great interest due to its usefulness in the investigation of ionospheric propagation and solar activity.

The Spanish amateur radio community, coordinated by the URE, has demonstrated a high level of technical skill, scientific rigor, and operational responsibility, contributing to the generation of data of international value and consolidating the role of amateur radio as a useful tool for science and technology.”

URE President Víctor (EA7FUN) said... “This extension is a recognition of the rigorous work of the URE and the value that amateur radio can bring to science. We will continue collaborating with the Administration so that Spain remains at the forefront of technical experimentation in radio and communications.”

In Conclusion... This is an important development for the 40 MHz band in that a major European country has not only extended the permission period for another 18-months but also allowed a higher power level.

It sets an important precedent for other countries where radio amateurs might like to get access to the 8m band. Amateur radio societies for other countries can submit proposals to their own licencing authorities and give Spain as an example of where limited permission was granted without any interference issues.

Links...

1) URE post from the 16th of Oct 2025

2) URE post from the 30th of Sept 2025

3) For more information on the 8m band, see my 40 MHz page.

National Broadcaster in Spain to close its AM network on Medium Wave at the end of 2025

On the 18th of November 2025, the Spanish national broadcaster RTVE issued a press release stating that they will be closing their AM network on Medium Wave at the end of 2025.

The stations concerned at Radio Nacional and Radio 5.

Some key points from the press release...

1) RNE's AM broadcasts will end before December 31st of this year , and the public will be informed through a special campaign , highlighting the various alternative ways citizens can already listen to Radio Nacional and Radio 5 programming. Furthermore, regardless of the rollout of digital radio via DAB+ and its resulting increased coverage, FM coverage will be reinforced in specific areas that may be particularly affected by the AM switch-off.

2) Continuous decline in AM listenership, and currently only about 1% of the Spanish population listens to it. In 2013, RNE's medium wave broadcasts had 176,000 listeners. In the latest survey, RNE's medium wave audience was only 69,000, 58,000 of them on the former Radio 1 and only 11,000 on Radio 5 broadcasts.

3) In Europe, 26 countries have already switched off their Medium Wave broadcasts. In those countries where they haven't been switched off, the audience is very small, and in some, such as Italy, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia, their national public broadcasters have even ceased broadcasting.

4) The manufacture and availability of new medium-wave radio receivers has drastically decreased worldwide, resulting in a significant shortage that is making access to these broadcasts increasingly difficult. Furthermore, fewer and fewer new vehicles in Europe are equipped with medium-wave reception.

5) RNE's Medium Wave network has very high electricity consumption, resulting in a significant carbon footprint. Its energy and economic costs are considerably higher than those of FM and, of course, DAB+.

6) DAB+ will have an automatic alert service for the population in Spain. During the blackout on April 28, RTVE was able to keep the public informed at all times thanks to the preparedness of its radio and television broadcasting networks. That day, radio demonstrated its vital importance in emergency situations and was for a long time the only means by which citizens could receive up-to-date information . Radio Nacional was the most listened-to station . 

Terrestrial radio and television broadcasting exhibits high resilience, and in particular, DAB+ radio broadcasts in Spain will incorporate the ASA (Automatic Safety Alert) system. This pioneering system alerts the public to emergencies and disasters and will activate automatically on compatible receivers.

The ASA allows automatic security alerts to be delivered to the population through spoken messages, with announcers transmitting all relevant information in emergency situations and with additional text and image information on the receiver screens, making the alerts clear, understandable and reliable.

Analysis... In terms of broadcasting in western Europe in the Medium Wave band, this is a major development. As alluded to above, many of the broadcasters in Europe have stopped transmitting on Medium Wave (AM) and only countries like the UK and Spain have major networks.

To the best of my knowledge, the close down of this network in Spain means that approximately 170 AM transmitters will be turned off.

A few years ago, I did a scan of the Medium Wave band at night from my location in Ireland and the Spanish RNE network accounted for about 20% of the 150 or stations that I heard.

Now that the Spanish national broadcaster is closing down it's AM network, surely it's only a matter of time before the commercial stations shut theirs.

Links...

1) RTVE Press Release (in Spanish)

Spain opens up the 40 MHz (8m) amateur radio band with conditions - April 2024

Good news! The licencing authorities in Spain have decided to open up the 40 MHz (8m) amateur radio band with conditions.

The national association for radio amateurs in Spain is the URE and they released this notice... "After hard work by the URE before the administration, today the Resolution of the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure was published on the Amateur Radio website, which authorizes holders of Spanish amateur radio authorizations to make broadcasts. in the 40,650 – 40,750 MHz band, with a maximum peak envelope power (PEP) of 25 W, for a period of eighteen months.

Broadcasts will only be made from fixed stations that have the corresponding license. In addition, the radio amateur must inform the Provincial Telecommunications Inspection Headquarters of the province in which he or she resides about his intention to operate in this band before broadcasting for the first time on these frequencies."

This is huge news for those interested in the 40 MHz band and Spain is the first 'big country' to allow radio amateurs access to the 8m band.

Analysis... In terms of propagation, Spain is in an ideal spot. 

F2... For F2 layer propagation, there will be plenty of openings from Spain to the Caribbean (PJ4MM) and the signals should be clearly heard in the USA and Canada as well. The north-south paths will be especially good and the 40 MHz signals will be heard all over South America and TEP openings to the radio amateurs in South Africa should be a regular occurrence.

Conditions from EA8 (Canary Islands) should be amazing while the southern EA5, EA6, EA7 stations will be a bit better than those further north.

Sporadic-E... The workhorse over the Summer months of May to July will be Sporadic-E with typical distances in the region of 1000 to 2200 kms.

For EI stations in Ireland... Expect EA5, EA6 and EA7 to be the most common. EA1 and EA2 will be harder.

ON stations in Belgium... Expect EA7 to be the most common with EA3 the hardest.

S5 stations in Slovenia... Expect EA1 and EA7 to be the easiest with EA3 and EA6 the hardest.

SV stations in Greece... EA1 might be difficult as it's close to the maximum one hop Sporadic-E distance. The rest of Spain should be easy.

In conclusion... One of the big problems with the 40 MHz band is the lack of activity. For those that are using the band, it soon gets to a stage where there is no-one new to work. With Spain joining the party, that should hopefully change.

As we're at the peak of the solar cycle, now is the time to explore the 8m band before the conditions drop away.

Links...

1) For more information on the 8m band, see my 40 MHz page. 

2) URE News item... https://www.ure.es/autorizada-la-banda-de-40650-40750-mhz/

3) The official notice in Spanish posted 2nd April 2024... https://avancedigital.mineco.gob.es/espectro/radioaficionados/autorizaciones/Documents/RESOLUCION_40_MHz.pdf

Addendum... This is the official document via Google Translate...

Did STARLINK #1668 burning up over Spain cause an opening on 28 MHz?

The STARLINK satellite system has been in the news a lot over the last few days as a solar flare caused a large number of them to fail on a recent launch. On Thursday the 10th of February 2022, an older model #1668 reentered the atmosphere over Spain.

The approximate path of the 260kg satellite as it burnt up over Spain is shown above.

Dr. Jose M. Madiedo who has a YouTube channel wrote... "This stunning fireball was spotted from Spain on Feb. 10. It was generated as a consequence of the reentry in the atmosphere of a Starlink satellite at about 20:50 local time (equivalent to 19:50 universal time). The satellite (Starlink-1668) had a mass of 260 kg. It was launched by SpaceX on 2020 Oct. 6. A wide number of causal eyewitnesses could see the phenomenon. The reentry took place at about 23,000 km/h. This gave rise to a fireball which began at a height of around 95 km over the province of La Coruña (region of Galicia, northwest of Spain) and moved southeast, crossing the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean Sea. It ended over Algeria."

A video of the satellite burning up is shown at the end of this post.

28 MHz???... As this satellite burnt up over Spain, it would have left a trail of ionized gas behind it which had to potential to refract radio signals.

I checked the PSKReporter website for unusual signals on 50 MHz or 144 MHz but I didn't note anything. What I did notice however on 28 MHz was that EC1CS in the NW of Spain heard several stations in the 300-700km range on FT8 in the space of a minute.

Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
CT7AQS 10m FT8 304 km 19:48:45 IM69FT
CR7BAV 10m FT8 593 km 19:48:42 IM67HE
CS7AUJ 10m FT8 599 km 19:48:16 IM67XE
EA5GJ 10m FT8 706 km 19:48:15 IM97JX

Over the course of a day on 28 MHz, I'd expect to gradually hear a good few FT8 stations in the 300-700km range but what I found a bit unusual was that EC1CS heard 4 in the space of a minute at 19:48 UTC.

Was it just coincidence or was the ionized trail behind STARLINK #1668 responsible?
Was the track of the satellite too far north?

It's impossible to be certain but surely the ionized trail was capable of refracting some radio signals?