Spain officially announced this evening (Thursday) that it will boycott the upcoming Eurovision competition if Israel participates in it.
The announcement comes just one week before the crucial discussion on Israel’s participation in the singing competition, with Spain being considered one of the strongest and most influential countries in the competition.
The Spanish Broadcasting Union (RTVE) strongly criticized Israel for allegedly “systematically violating the competition rules and exploiting the event’s platform for political purposes.”
Spain’s decision to withdraw from the competition comes despite recent changes to the competition’s rules, which may affect Israel’s performance. The scoring system was altered, granting more power to the judges, who generally tend to have a less favorable stance towards Israel compared to the audience, which typically gives many votes to Israeli representatives.
In Spain, it was emphasized that even if Eurovision 2026 is held under entirely different conditions, they will not participate if Israel is allowed to compete.