The most irrelevant Benidorm Fest celebrates its final this Saturday

BarcelonaWhen RTVE launched Benidorm Fest in 2022, the objective was clear: to involve the audience in choosing Spain's representative for Eurovision, following the system used by other countries like Italy with the Sanremo Festival or Sweden with Melodifestivalen. This year, however, with the withdrawal of RTVE from Eurovision due to Israel's continued participation, Benidorm Fest has ceased to serve its primary purpose. Nevertheless, the Spanish corporation has decided to continue with the competition and this Saturday is broadcasting a final in which the winner will be chosen. The musician or group that emerges victorious from this gala will receive a prize of 150,000 euros, which will be distributed among the performers and authors of the winning song. Furthermore, the festival has partnered with Spotify, and the winner will record a Spotify Single in Stockholm, Sweden.

Jesús Vázquez, Javier Ambrossi, Inés Hernand, and Lalachus will be the hosts of a gala that will start at 10:00 PM and can be followed on La 1, RTVE Play, and RNE. In total, there are twelve aspiring artists competing for the Benidorm Fest award, including Miranda! & Bailamamá, María León ft. Julia Medina, and Mikel Herzog Jr. The winner of the previous edition was Melody, who ended up representing Spain at Eurovision with a disappointing result, as she finished third to last in the standings (24th out of 26).

Despite not having the allure of Eurovision, this year's Benidorm Fest semifinals (broadcast on Tuesday and Thursday) have achieved similar audience figures to previous editions. The most notable decrease occurred in the first semifinal: in 2025 it had a screen share of 13.1%, while this year it was 11.1%. In terms of viewers, it dropped from 1,215,000 to 850,000. The second semifinal registered a screen share of 11.1% across Spain – identical to the first semifinal – and 857,000 viewers. The figures are slightly lower than those of the 2025 edition, which obtained an 11.7% share and 1,030,000 viewers. Last year's final had a screen share of 17.1% and 1.9 million viewers, the second-best audience in its history.