Spain has dramatically withdrawn from the Eurovision Song Contest and will not broadcast next year’s final after the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) voted to allow Israel to take part in the 2026 competition.
RTVE confirmed the decision on Thursday evening, shortly after the EBU’s general assembly approved Israel’s participation despite weeks of criticism and threats of withdrawal from several member states, including Spain.
During the vote, the public broadcasters that make up the EBU backed a package of reforms proposed by Eurovision organisers and rejected any move to exclude Israel.
The result was 738 votes in favour, 264 against, and 120 abstentions. RTVE said the outcome fell far short of what was needed.
Alfonso Morales, the broadcaster’s secretary general, told the assembly that RTVE held ‘serious doubts’ about allowing Israel’s public broadcaster KAN to compete in 2026.
He cited the ongoing humanitarian situation in Gaza, even in the context of a ceasefire and an emerging peace process, and accused Israel of using Eurovision for political ends, undermining the contest’s supposed neutrality as a cultural event.
RTVE’s president, Jose Pablo Lopez, later took to social media to condemn the vote, arguing that the decision ‘confirms that Eurovision is not a song contest, but a festival dominated by fractured geopolitical interests.’
As a result, Spain will not participate in Eurovision 2026 and will not air the final scheduled for May 16.
The EBU had gathered broadcasters this Thursday to settle the question of Israel’s presence following mounting pressure and calls for a boycott from several countries.
Despite the reforms adopted, the Spanish broadcaster said the measures did not address the core issues and chose to step aside.
Eurovision 2026 will now go ahead without Spain for the first time in decades, in a seismic moment for a contest the country has traditionally embraced.
