I suspect that most of my readers won’t be much interested in the fact that today an era is coming to an end in Mallorca. From 12h00 today, television in Mallorca will not be broadcast in the analogue technology any longer.

In line with other European countries, a number of Spanish regions have already switched from analogue to digital television. Now, the old analogue television signal will be switched off in Mallorca, too. You may have read the term apagón analógico in the newspapers, informing about the analogue switch-off. From now on, viewers will need to upgrade their TV equipment to receive digital signals, whether through their aerial, by satellite or broadband. The existing terrestrial antennae can still be used, but a Televisión Digital Terrestre (TDT) converter is now needed to transform the analogue signal into a digital one.

I am under the impression that most extranjeros living in Mallorca do not seem to be watching Spanish television programmes a lot or at all and thus, won’t be affected by the technological changeover. I consider that a great shame, as such indifference hinders the process of integration into the society that we live in. I am also convinced that listening to the local radio programme or watching local or national TV channels greatly helps in getting familiar with the language spoken here. If you happen to be a bit hesitant about taking language classes, you may find that watching the news on a Spanish TV channel now and then improves your language skills very much in a relatively short time, believe me.

The photo was chosen from my archive. It was taken near Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 23rd, 2009. The time was 13:52:05.