After a heated debate, the president of the Corporation and a majority of the like-minded councilors (10 of the 15 that comprise it) have made the decision: Spain will not participate in Eurovision 2026 if Israel is not expelled after approval by the Board of Directors by 10 votes in favor, four against and one abstention. During the council it was also communicated that the approved decision does not alter the plans regarding the celebration of the Benidorm Fest,"a festival with its own identity, fully consolidated and which next year celebrates its fifth edition."
"Everything possible must be done to ensure that Israel does not participate in Eurovision." This was the emphatic statement made on Monday by members of the government, such as the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, and some of his government's partners, such as Sumar. No sooner said than done. Hours after these statements, and without anyone expecting it, RTVE announced on the premiere of Directo al grano on La 1 that the president of RTVE, José Pablo López, was going to propose to the Board of Directors - the majority of whom are very much in favor of this measure - that Spain should not participate in the Festival if the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) allows Israel to participate.
The Eurovision Song Contest was born in 1956 in a post-war context, when Europe was seeking to rebuild its identity and cooperation. Only seven countries participated in the first edition, but others joined years later, such as Spain in 1961. Since then, Spain has always participated in Eurovision, until now. RTVE has decided that it will not participate in Eurovision 2026, to be held in Austria in May, if the organization responsible for the Festival does not expel Israel due to the conflict in Gaza and the deaths of thousands of civilians. A"genocide," as confirmed by a UN investigation on Monday.
This was decided by the majority of the Board of Directors of the Public Corporation during the meeting held this morning. The directors who voted in favor were those from the PSOE, PNV, Sumar, Podemos, and ERC. Miquel Calçada, a director appointed by Junts, abstained, while the four PP directors voted against.
It was not on the agenda to make such a decision now or to address the issue of Spain's participation in Eurovision, but the pressure of the last few hours from the Government and some of its partners led the president of RTVE to announce this Monday that the agenda would include proposing to the councilors that Spain withdraw from the Festival if Israel participates. With a Council made up of 11 councilors appointed by the Government and its partners and only four chosen by the PP, the decision was clear: Spain would not participate for the first time in its history in the Eurovision Song Contest if Israel continues.
All councilors agreed to condemn the deaths in Gaza. However, one of the debates raised during the meeting was the contradiction of withdrawing from Eurovision and not from other competitions and events in which Israel participates.
Although the vote was successful, the reality is that it wasn't even necessary to put it to a vote, since according to the RTVE law approved by the government and its partners, the power to make this decision falls to the president of RTVE, and the Council wouldn't have the authority to decide, since it is a television program. It would be a different matter if the decision had to be made to leave the European Broadcasting Union, something that hasn't even been considered.
What Spanish Television is really trying to do is pressure the EBU to expel Israel, joining other countries that had already announced their withdrawal from the Festival in recent weeks (the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia and Iceland). However, Spain's withdrawal is a bigger blow, as it is the first country belonging to the Big Five to announce its withdrawal.
Spain, Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom are part of this select and privileged group of countries, as they enjoy a series of benefits for the Festival, such as direct access to the final. They are also the countries that contribute the most financially to the EBU.
For the moment, the EBU has not commented beyond accepting the letters sent by several countries, including Spain, requesting that they open the debate on expelling Israel. The EBU is in no hurry, as it has until December to make a decision. However, some European public broadcasters are clear that pressure must be exerted to ensure that the EBU does not end up making a half-hearted decision that could lead to situations like those experienced in this year's or last year's edition.
Furthermore, Spain's withdrawal could trigger a cascading withdrawal from other Big Five countries, such as France, where the debate on Eurovision is ongoing. In other words, the Board of Directors' decision not only affects Spain and its participation in Eurovision, but also the entire structure and organization of the Festival. This should lead the EBU, at the very least, to speed up the debate and make a decision before December, as it runs the risk of multiplying the number of countries that will not participate. But what if more countries do not join? Beyond the impact outside our borders that RTVE's decision represents, the EBU does not have to decide which countries will participate or not until December, nor do the countries decide whether or not to participate.
The problem with RTVE's decision, which did not have the support of PP councilors, is that it raises this issue only with Eurovision, since Israel participates in many international events and sporting competitions. One of the clearest examples is the World Cup, which will be held in the summer of 2026, or the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, both broadcast by RTVE. Will the Spanish national team be asked not to participate if Israel does? This was one of the questions raised during the Council meeting. According to the Prime Minister's words on Monday, following the pro-Palestinian protests that led to the cancellation of the final stage of La Vuelta a España,"Israel, just as was done with Russia, should not be involved in any competition."
The EBU wasn't so hesitant about expelling Russia, as is happening with Israel, as was seen at last May's Festival, when the organization even sent RTVE a warning letter for comments by its broadcasters, Toni Aguilar and Julia Valera, describing the death toll at the hands of Israel in Gaza. However, in Russia's case, it was expelled from the European Broadcasting Union altogether.
The EBU, which had originally championed the non-political nature of the contest, eventually bowed to pressure and in 2022 removed Russia from the organization to prevent the competition from being overshadowed by the war in Ukraine. The Eurovision Song Contest's rules for expelling a country are unclear, particularly regarding armed conflicts. In Russia's case, the Russian broadcasters Rossiya 1 and Piervy Kanal were suspended and expelled from the EBU in 2022. The official reason was the loss of editorial independence and their role in spreading disinformation and state propaganda during the invasion of Ukraine, which violates the EBU's core values. In Israel's case, the EBU considers that, despite"deeply held concerns and opinions" about the conflict in the Middle East, KAN's participation is legitimate under the current rules.
