Spain has televised Eurovision every year since the country began participating in the contest in 1961.
Melody represented Spain in Basel last year. PDO
Spain will not see the 2026 Eurovision on TV.
The country’s public broadcasting company RTVE has announced that it will not show the singing competition on television because of Israel’s participation, says Pinknews.
It is the first time that the contest will not be shown on Spanish TV since the country participated in Eurovision. Spain was first seen on stage in 1961.
RTVE’s representatives have stated that maintaining the neutrality of the competition had become “impossible”. In addition, they describe the current atmosphere of the event as tinged with “political mistrust”.
Apart from Spain, the broadcasting company of Slovenia, which is among the countries boycotting the competition, has confirmed that it will not show the competition on television at all.
The Netherlands, Ireland and Iceland have also confirmed that they will not participate in this year’s Eurovision. Despite the withdrawal, the countries still plan to televise the competition.
Spain was one of the biggest sponsoring countries of Eurovision. The country’s decision to withdraw from the competition and its televising also meant that the country withdrew its funding.
Prime minister of the country Pedro Sánchez said in May of last year that Israel should be excluded from visas due to the situation in Gaza, just as it was for Russia in 2022, when the country attacked Ukraine.
– We cannot allow double standards in culture, the Prime Minister said at the time.