My family is also Spanish/catalan and the TV is always off, only turned on when seeing something together.

Mi wife family, just some km away, they have the TV on during all they long, it freaks me out. My toddler is the one that shuts it down for them, because he 'can not hear them' if TV is on.

I spent my entire childhood in the USA. Every friends house seemed to have different TV habits. No TV at all, TV always on, TV on but commercials muted. I don’t think it’s a cultural phenomenon at all.

I think it's generational as well. I haven't had cable since I moved out of my parents' place after HS.

Depending on how you define cultural, it's entirely possible that TV watching culture varies within your family.