Spain has become the latest country to say it will not take part in next year’s Eurovision song contest if Israel participates.
Board members of the state broadcaster RTVE voted in majority favour of boycotting the contest if Israel is among the countries fielding an entry next year.
It makes Spain the first of the “big five” Eurovision countries that make the largest financial contributions to the event – the others are France, Germany, Italy, and the UK – to take such action in response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
The decision was made on the same day as a UN commission of inquiry concluded that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
There had already been similar decisions over Eurovision from Slovenia, Ireland and the Netherlands.
RTVE said in a statement: “In July, RTVE asked the EBU [the European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision] for a serious and deep debate to be entered into over Israel’s participation in the next Eurovision festival. Other countries backed Spain’s request.”
It said the motion to withdraw from the 2026 event was carried by 10 votes to four with one abstention. RTVE said the decision would not affect Benidorm Fest, the annual contest in which Spain chooses its Eurovision entry, as that event was “a festival with its own full established reputation”.
The next Eurovision song contest will take place in Vienna in May. Eurovision is one of the world’s biggest TV events, with more than 160 million viewers.
Russia was banned from the contest after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 but Israel has continued to compete over the past two years despite growing international concerns over its offensive in Gaza.
The EBU opened a consultation process in July with the 37 broadcasters who took part last year after a meeting was convened, hosted by the BBC in London, to discuss the differences of opinion on Israel’s participation in 2026.
Normally, broadcasters have to let the EBU know by October whether they will participate or not, but this year the deadline was extended until December, allowing for late decisions not to take part.
But those broadcasters who start their selection process in the autumn through national song contests are under pressure to make decisions now.
Slovenia’s public broadcaster RTV was the first to announce it would not participate, followed by RTÉ in Ireland and Avrotros in the Netherlands last week.
“The broadcaster also expresses deep concern about the serious erosion of press freedom: the deliberate exclusion of independent international reporting and the many casualties among journalists,” Avrotros said, echoing a statement the day before by RTÉ that said it would be “unconscionable” to take part in the present circumstances.
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Iceland’s public service broadcaster RÚV, said it was considering its position and it “reserved the right to withdraw”.
Several Nordic countries have begun the song selection process with entertainment shows that are a major part of the TV calendar but are also keeping the door open to a withdrawal.
Johanna Törn-Mangs, the director of culture and factual content at the Finnish public broadcaster YLE, said: “The humanitarian situation in Gaza is tragic, and we sincerely hope for an end to the suffering as soon as possible. Israel’s participation in Eurovision has been a significant topic of discussion in Finland and we have been consistently informing the EBU about the conversations happening here.
“The EBU is therefore well aware of the public discussion in Finland. At YLE, we have received – and continue to receive – weekly feedback on this issue, both supporting and opposing Israel’s continued participation in the Eurovision song contest.”
RTL in Luxembourg, whose main shareholder is the German media group Bertelsmann, told the Guardian it would be taking part next year as the contest’s code of conduct stresses that Eurovision “is a non-political, international entertainment event”. ARD in Germany said it was participating in the consultation process launched by the EBU.
Martin Green, the director of the song contest, said: “We understand the concerns and deeply held views around the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. We are still consulting with all EBU members to gather views on how we manage participation and geopolitical tensions around the Eurovision song contest … It is up to each member to decide if they want to take part in the contest and we would respect any decision broadcasters make.”
Israel’s national public service broadcaster Kan, which has been threatened with privatisation by Benjamin Netanyahu amid accusations it is too leftist, has already decided it wants to take part.