Most British television stations, including BBC iPlayer, Sky Go, ITV, and All 4 (formerly 4od), restrict access to their online feeds to residents of the United Kingdom. Once you leave the country, you will no longer be able to access British online video players. This means you’ll have to make do with Spanish programming rather than Eastenders, Coronation Street, or The X Factor.
Fortunately, you can watch British television online with a VPN. This service will tunnel your web traffic via an intermediate server and provide you with a British IP address, allowing you to access UK video streaming sites. Additionally, it will encrypt your connections to prevent other parties from monitoring or interfering with your online activity.
In this post, I’ll explain how to use a VPN to seem to be in the UK, allowing you to watch British television from Spain or anywhere else on the globe. Additionally, I’ll recommend the finest VPN service for the job based on my previous expertise.
How to watch British TV in Spain
If you wish to watch UK TV online from Spain, then follow these simple steps:
- Subscribe to the VPN service suggested below. NordVPN is recommended.
- Install the app that is suitable for your device.
- Connect by opening the app and selecting a UK VPN server.
- In your browser, go to the UK video streaming site and choose your video and enjoy it.
How to find the best VPN for British TV in Spain
Apart from being able to access UK-based online video channels, VPN services must meet further criteria to be included in our list of recommendations. These include the following:
- Numerous server possibilities in the United Kingdom.
- Rapid accelerations.
- Strict privacy safeguards.
- Simple-to-use application.
- Customer support staff that are responsive and competent.
The best VPN for watching British TV from Spain
NordVPN
NordVPN is our preferred pick regarding viewing British television from Spain. It operates servers in several countries, including the United Kingdom, and can unblock entertainment websites worldwide. The service provides access to both free and paid video streaming providers in the United Kingdom, including NowTV, Amazon Prime Video, and Netflix.
Cheap pricing is a distinct benefit that this VPN has over the others on my list. However, my testing revealed an issue with NordVPN: it is the slowest service on this list. Having said that, the connection speeds are still sufficient for continuous video streaming and are faster than the bulk of VPNs available.
Despite its low price, the NordVPN app contains additional security features, one of which is called CyberSec. This utility disables advertisements and pop-ups, prevents infected websites from opening in your browser, and prevents your computer from joining a botnet to launch DDoS attacks.
Apps are available for Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android, and Linux, and browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox are also available. For routers and set-top boxes, you may configure the VPN manually. NordVPN provides each account with a six-device concurrent connection limit.
VPN testing procedures
The reviewers at PrivacyExplore strive to create the most accurate, informative, and thorough VPN evaluations and recommendations available on the web. To do so, our staff examines each VPN against a set of criteria that includes real-world experience, expert analysis, and a battery of performance and security testing. When it comes to ITV Hub VPNs, we pay close attention to the following:
- Streaming: We conduct real-world testing to determine whether VPNs are compatible with the ITV Hub, as well as major streaming services like Netflix, BBC iPlayer, HBO Max, Disney+, Hulu, and Prime Video.
- Security: We examine each VPN’s encryption system and conduct connection tests for several sorts of data breaches, including DNS, WebRTC, and IPv6 leaks.
- Logging policy: We thoroughly review each VPN’s privacy policy and terms of service for any wording or omissions that might imply the gathering of personally-identifying information when using a VPN.
- Speed: We monitor and log download speeds when connecting to VPN servers located across the globe.
- Customer support: As undercover shoppers, our reviewers call each VPN’s customer support team to ascertain response times and quality.
- Server network: Although the overall number of servers is irrelevant, we prefer VPNs with servers in more countries, which provide users with a broader geographical reach.
Is it possible to watch British TV in Spain with a free VPN?
While the suggested VPN is quite simple to use, the labor involved is somewhat difficult and incurs fees. Nonetheless, there are several free VPNs available. How are some VPNs able to charge for their services while others provide them for free? The truth is that free VPNs do not provide the same degree of service as paid VPNs.
The majority of them are very sluggish, making it impossible to stream video without experiencing buffering latency. In any case, the majority of them are unable to circumvent geo-restriction measures, preventing them from providing access to British television video streaming services.
Free VPNs must still earn money. They devise several devious methods to earn without providing adequate service. Numerous of them lack encryption, leaving your communication entirely exposed. Others require you to view advertisements before connecting you, and others monitor your data to sell it to third parties.
Which British TV channels am I able to watch from Spain?
There are hundreds of British television stations available online, and you can even download them to your phone, allowing you to watch them from anywhere. BBC iPlayer provides access to all BBC channels, including CBeebies for children. The ITV Hub allows you access to all ITV stations, while All 4 provides access to the Channel 4 family of channels, which includes E4, Vice, and Film 4. The Channel 5 website includes information on Channel 5, 5 Star, 5 USA, and 5 Spike.
You may watch each station live or on-demand. Apart from the basic channels, the subscription service may also be accessed using a VPN. UKTV Play, for example, provides access to Yesterday, Drama, Home, Really, and Dave. If you have a Sky subscription in the United Kingdom, you may watch it online through Sky Go.
Are VPNs legal in Spain?
In Spain, there is no legislation prohibiting the use of a VPN. It is completely legal. I tried eight VPNs in Tenerife and they all worked flawlessly. I also tested the services on my mobile phone and was able to watch British television while sitting at Playa de las Americas and Los Cristianos beachside bars. I’ve also used these VPNs on the Costa Del Sol, from Malaga to Gibraltar, and they’ve all provided me with acceptable playback speeds for watching BBC iPlayer and All 4.
A VPN does nothing more than route all of your traffic via a server in the location specified in the program. The connection between your device and the VPN server is completely encrypted, which means that anybody intercepting the transmissions will be unable to determine which websites you are accessing or what content is returning to your computer.
When the VPN server transmits your video requests to the TV website, the request includes the VPN server’s IP address. Therefore, if you choose a location in the United Kingdom, BBC iPlayer will receive your request for a film from the VPN server’s IP address in the United Kingdom, rather than your true IP address in Spain. The VPN server then forwards the received video to your computer. This is how VPNs circumvent the location-based restrictions imposed by various video providers.
Because not every VPN service will work, it is a mistake to do a Google search and choose the first provider that shows on the results page. You incur a significant danger of being duped. This is because British television websites are aware of VPNs and attempt to block any requests made through one. BBC iPlayer is notoriously tough to access, and very few VPNs are capable of evading detection there.
VPN protects wifi connections too
When you travel, you depend on the complimentary wifi provided by hotels, restaurants, and public transportation hubs. Since you are not bringing your wifi router to Spain, you cannot rely on the security offered for your connections.
It’s fantastic to go to a beachfront bar, look out over the sea, soak up the sun, and watch Eastenders on your phone or tablet while sipping a beer. Connecting to those bar wifi services, on the other hand, poses a risk. A common hacking technique these days is to create bogus wifi hotspots.
Any laptop computer may be configured to act as a wireless access point. All the hacker needs to do is modify his computer’s wifi name (SSID) from the manufacturer-assigned name to anything that sounds like it belongs at the location. For instance, if you are at Torremolinos’s Bar Tropicale, the hacker’s wifi computer may be dubbed “Free Bar Tropicale WIFI” or “Free Torremolinos Wifi.”
By connecting to one of these ostensibly legitimate hotspots, you are connected to the hacker’s computer. The hacker attaches his computer to a legitimate wifi hotspot and routes all of your traffic via it, allowing you to connect. When your data is being sent from your device to the internet, the hacker gains access to it. Additionally, the hacker’s computer will be able to intercept, manipulate or replace any data sent from the internet to your computer.
Encryption is used to secure the wifi transmission. However, the key to encryption is determined by the hacker-controlled wifi hotspot. As a result, the hacker will be able to decode and read all of the data you transmit. This might enable the hacker to get your bank account information as well as your login and password for a variety of online services, including your email and Netflix account.
VPN connection is completely secure due to the use of powerful encryption. The encryption key is negotiated between your computer’s VPN program and the VPN server. The hacker is unable to conduct a “man-in-the-middle attack” because the session formation protocols need both the VPN software and the server to authenticate their identities, which the hacker cannot do. Therefore, even if the hacker can breach the wifi encryption that is meant to safeguard your connection, he will only discover a stream of unintelligible characters due to the VPN encryption remaining in place.
Broadcast your own TV
You may become weary of watching television on your computer, and it’s much more difficult to appreciate a film or drama on a phone’s little screen. You do not need to tolerate this since you may transmit the feed to your television. If your apartment complex or hotel has a wifi system, you may use a technique called “casting” to stream movies from the UK directly to the television in your room. The most well-known casting method is Google’s Chromecast, however, there are others available.
Therefore, ensure that you get a VPN before traveling to Spain. When you arrive, log in to the BBC iPlayer and cast CBeebies on the television to entertain the children while you unpack.
FAQs about British TV in Spain
Is it legal for me to use an Amazon Fire Stick in Spain to watch UK TV?
Yes! For the majority of VPNs, we recommend offering dedicated Amazon Firestick apps, which you can download and install directly from the Amazon Fire TV app store. By installing our suggested VPN and connecting to a UK-based server, you should be able to watch UK television from Spain.
Will Sky Sports continue to operate in Spain after Brexit?
No, Sky has said that as of 1 January 2021, Sky Go, Sky Sports, and Sky Kids will not be allowed to broadcast content beyond the United Kingdom. Certain applications allow you to download and store programs before leaving the UK, allowing you to view them offline while traveling. Otherwise, a VPN is required to view Sky Sports from outside the United Kingdom.
What is the best way for me to watch Coronation Street from Spain?
Coronation Street is available to watch in the United Kingdom through ITV Hub. If you’re in Spain, you may view the program by connecting to a UK server using a VPN.