Spain confirms it will withdraw from Eurovision if Israel remains in the contest.

BarcelonaThe board of directors of RTVE has decided that Spain will withdraw from Eurovision if Israel continues to participate. The measure follows the proposal by the president of the organization, José Pablo López, to withdraw from the festival if Israel participates in the next edition, to be held on May 16, 2026, in Vienna. The RTVE board is made up of 15 members, five of whom are proposed by the PSOE, four by the PP, two by Sumar, and the rest by Junts, ERC, PNV, and Podemos. Spain's boycott of Israel's participation was approved by an absolute majority of the corporation's governing body, with ten votes in favor, four against, and one abstention (by Junts). RTVE's decision is a further step in the Spanish government's pressure strategy against Israel for the war in Gaza.

Spain is one of the countries that are part of the so-called Big Five, which contribute the most money to the European Broadcasting Union, which manages the festival. The rest of the group is made up of France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Germany, the latter two of whom have already expressed their willingness to allow Israel to continue participating in Eurovision. This year, several countries have called for a boycott if Israel continues to compete in Eurovision. The Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland, and Slovenia stated that they will not participate in the festival if the EBU insists on keeping Israel in the contest, and they recall that Russia was banned due to its invasion of Ukraine. However, the EBU has not yet made any decision because it is immersed in a period of consultations with the various members of the organization to obtain their opinion on this issue and decide "how to manage participation and the geopolitical tensions" experienced by the festival. European public broadcasters and television stations have until December to confirm their participation in the festival. "It's up to each member to decide whether they want to participate in the contest, and we will respect any decision the broadcasters make," said Eurovision Song Contest Director Martin Green.

The televoting controversy

Israel's presence at Eurovision has been a source of discomfort for some of the countries participating in the competition for years, and tensions have continued to rise since the start of the Gaza war. In the 2024 edition, held eight months after the Hamas attack and the start of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, several countries called for Israel's participation to be banned from the competition, as was the case with Russia, but that has yet to happen. That year's participation was surrounded by controversy: initially, the organizers rejected Israel's song for containing political messages, and it wasn't until they presented a third "apolitical" option that the EBU gave its approval. In the Eurovision final, the discontent generated by Israel's participation became evident when Hebrew singer Eden Golan took the stage. Her performance was met with a mixture of boos, hisses, and tepid applause. However, Israel finished fifth in the final ranking thanks to the public vote: it received 323 votes from the televote, despite the professional jury having only awarded it 52.

In the 2025 edition, history repeated itself, and the role of the popular vote was further questioned. Israel came in second place thanks to the televote, which earned them 297 points. During the final broadcast, RTVE aired a message of support for Palestine, thus defying the Eurovision Song Contest, which had threatened "punitive fines" if the Spanish commentators mentioned the Gaza war, as they had done during the semi-finals. "In the face of human rights, silence is not an option. Peace and justice for Palestine," read the text that appeared superimposed on the screen.

Will the festival be broadcast?

Beyond its participation in the festival, this Tuesday Compromís also demanded that RTVE not broadcast Eurovision under any circumstances if Israel remains a part of it. "Give seconds to convey the idea of a modern country, even if LGBTI people allow me to,"Friendly, from a genocidal country like Israel, cannot be included in the roadmap of a democratic public television network, and therefore, it is not enough for Spain not to participate if Israel is allowed to do so. Let us remember that Russia cannot participate; we must not give it any space," said Albert Ibáñez, a Compromís deputy in the Sumar parliamentary group.

However, RTVE has not yet made any decision on the matter. What they have assured is that the decision taken today by Ben does not alter the plans to choose its representative for Eurovision. They assure that it is a festival "with its own identity and totally consolidated."