Radio Espantoso

Updated 2 November 2026 · Fan site. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.

Radio Espantoso is a Spanish-language music station in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002) and Vice City Stories (2006). It plays Latin jazz, mambo, salsa and Latin funk. Its 1986 host in Vice City is the excitable Pepe, while the 1984 version in Vice City Stories is hosted by Hector Hernandez. The name means roughly "horrible" in Spanish.

What is Radio Espantoso?

Radio Espantoso is one of the in-car stations of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Rockstar's 1980s crime game set in a fictional take on Miami. It is the city's Spanish-language music channel, and almost everything on it, from the host's patter to the station idents, is in Spanish. The music leans on Latin jazz and Cuban styles: mambo, son, salsa and funky Latin fusion. It came back for the prequel Vice City Stories, set in 1984. For how it fits alongside the other stations, see the GTA radio stations hub.

The station name is a joke in itself. According to the GTA Wiki, "espantoso" translates as "horrible" or "awful", an odd brand for a station that sells itself as the best in the world.

Who hosts Radio Espantoso?

In the 1986 setting of Vice City the DJ is Pepe, a loud and cheerful presenter who shouts slogans over the music, rambles about food and his private life, and treats the job as one long party. In the 1984 setting of Vice City Stories the station is run by Hector Hernandez instead, who names a local sponsor on air. Both hosts are fictional characters written for the games.

What kind of music does it play?

Most of the Vice City playlist is licensed music from real artists, stretching from the early 1950s to the 1990s. Big names include the Cuban bassist Cachao, the percussionist Mongo Santamaría, the bandleader Machito and the Cuban group Irakere. A few tracks were made for the game itself. The GTA Wiki says Radio Espantoso and V-Rock are the two Vice City stations with original material, here credited to invented acts such as Alpha Banditos and Unaesta.

The table is a selection only; track details come from the GTA Wiki's Vice City tracklist.

Was any music removed from Radio Espantoso?

Yes. As with other Vice City stations, licences for some songs ran out. The GTA Wiki lists Irakere's "Añunga Ñunga" as missing from the mobile versions, the PlayStation 2 Classics releases, the Rockstar Games Launcher version and The Trilogy: The Definitive Edition. Original disc copies keep the full line-up.

How was the Vice City soundtrack received?

According to Wikipedia, many reviewers praised Vice City's radio and talk shows and felt the licensed music suited the period. Wikipedia also says the team researched 1980s music closely to reinforce the setting, and that the stations were released by Epic Records as a seven-album box set alongside the game in October 2002. The GTA Wiki notes that Radio Espantoso is the favoured station of the game's Cuban gang, which ties the music to the Little Havana neighbourhood.