The Governing Council’s decision, published in the BOJA on Thursday, declares the licence for TDT Estepona, Manilva, Casares and Benahavís terminated and expressly establishes the cessation of the service.
Manilva loses the digital terrestrial television (TDT) broadcast of the only media outlet that for three decades has accompanied the daily life of the municipality. The Official Gazette of the Junta de Andalucía (BOJA) on Thursday publishes the decision adopted by the Governing Council of the Junta de Andalucía on 31 August, declaring terminated the licence for the provision of the local public television service for the area of Estepona, Manilva, Casares and Benahavís.
The decision affects the public management company TDT Estepona, Manilva, Casares y Benahavís, S.L., holder of the licence granted in 2010. The resolution is clear in stating that the termination of the licence entails the loss of the status of service provider and «entails the cessation of the provision of the service».
The decision also comes at a particularly symbolic moment for Manilva. Barely two months earlier, the municipality had celebrated in style the 30-year history of Radio Televisión Manilva, with a gala held on 3 July in the Plaza de la Vendimia to mark three decades of news, culture, sport and entertainment serving all residents.
That celebration was intended as a tribute to a whole generation of staff, contributors and residents who had been involved with RTV Manilva, and to a medium that for years had served as a witness to the recent history of the town: its festivals, traditions, sporting events, cultural activities and main council news.
Today, that celebration of three decades of history takes on a very different meaning.
RTV Manilva has been part of the municipality’s news landscape for decades. For many residents, its broadcasts are part of Manilva’s collective memory and of a time when municipal television and radio were one of the main windows onto what was happening in the town.
For that reason, the end of the licence means much more than the disappearance of an administrative permit. For many residents, it means the loss of the main media outlet and producer of content close to the public.
And it comes after another episode that has also left its mark on the municipality: the loss of the fire station service, likewise linked to decisions and powers held above municipal level that are gradually dismantling what has taken many years of effort and investment to build.
A procedure known about since 2025
The situation did not arise overnight.
According to the chronology of the procedure provided to this outlet, the problem had been known to Manilva Town Hall since April 2025. On 2 April 2025, when José Manuel Fernández was mayor and Juan Carlos Morejón was responsible for Media, submissions were presented to the Junta de Andalucía and the municipality’s interest in keeping the licence was expressly stated.
Soon afterwards there was a change of government. On 30 April 2025, Mario Jiménez took over as mayor and Juan Carlos Morejón became First Deputy Mayor and kept the Media department.
On 6 May 2025, the Junta gave the company holding the TDT licence six months to reinstate its tax identification number (NIF) and provide documentary proof. On 6 August an application to try to reinstate it was submitted to the tax authorities and, subsequently, in November 2025, the Junta granted a further three-month extension to prove the situation had been regularised.
The file remained on hold.
On 22 June 2026, the Junta again notified the company and the town halls involved, including Manilva, of the procedure. A month later, on 21 July, the Directorate General for Social Communication proposed terminating the licence, noting that it had received no documentation proving the reinstatement of the NIF and no new submissions on the matter; in short, nothing had been done.
Finally, on 31 August 2026, the Governing Council of the Junta de Andalucía agreed to declare the licence terminated.
The decision was published in BOJA number 171, dated 3 September 2026, making it official.
The origin of the problem lay in a simple regularisation of the licence-holding company’s NIF
The BOJA itself states that the State Tax Agency published in September 2022 the revocation of NIF B93046548, belonging to the company TDT Estepona, Manilva, Casares y Benahavís, S.L.
The Junta considers that this circumstance falls within one of the grounds for termination of a licence set out in audiovisual legislation: the extinction of the legal personality of its holder. It expressly bases this on Decree 90/2025, the Andalusian Audiovisual Act and the General Audiovisual Communication Act.
Therefore, the official document does not refer to a specific decision against Manilva, but to the termination of the licence for the whole area and the company that managed it.
Three decades later, RTVManilva has to stop broadcasting on television
This newspaper believes Manilva is losing more than a television signal. It is losing a part of its recent history, a loudspeaker for its associations, groups, sportspeople, festivals and residents, and a medium that, with its successes and its mistakes, had been part of the life of the municipality for three decades.
And it does so at a time when local media and local news are, precisely, more necessary than ever.
The decision also leaves numerous questions about the handling of the procedure and about whether everything possible was done, by the various authorities involved, to avoid this outcome.
Because beyond acronyms, governments or administrative responsibilities, there is a reality that should not be lost sight of: behind a licence, a NIF and an administrative file there was a service that for 30 years had names, faces, voices and, above all, residents on the other side of the screen who have given us all so much enjoyment.
And perhaps for that reason it is especially sad that the celebration of 30 years of RTV Manilva may end up being remembered as the farewell to an era.
A decision that can still be appealed
The decision published in the BOJA establishes that an appeal for reconsideration may be lodged, on an optional basis, with the Governing Council within one month from the day after notification, or a contentious-administrative appeal may be brought directly within two months from the day after notification or publication.
For now, what is official is that the Junta de Andalucía has declared the licence terminated and that this termination entails the cessation of the service it covered.
Thirty years after that adventure began, Manilva thus faces the end of one of its most recognisable chapters in local communication, although we hope its political leaders find an effective solution to reverse the situation so that we can continue to enjoy the news closest to the public.
