Spanish national broadcaster RTVE has confirmed that it will withdraw from Eurovision 2026 if Israel participates in the song contest. The annual singing competition, which Austria won this year, will take place in Vienna in May 2026. Spain has followed in the footsteps of countries such as Ireland, Slovenia, and the Netherlands, which have both confirmed that they will not take part in next year’s edition of the contest if Israel is allowed to take part. The Board of Directors of broadcaster RTVE reportedly voted on this action earlier today. Notably, Spain is one of the Big Five countries that contribute the most financially to the contest. The others are France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy.
According to EuroVoix News, they reported that the agreement was approved by an absolute majority of the Corporation’s governing body. It showed ten votes in favour, four against, and one abstention.
Slovenia’s national broadcaster, RTVSLO, has also confirmed it will withdraw from the competition if Israel participates.
In a statement on Thursday last week, Ireland’s broadcaster RTÉ said: “It is RTÉ’s position that Ireland will not take part in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, if the participation of Israel goes ahead, and the final decision regarding Ireland’s participation will be made once the EBU’s decision is made”.
It continued: “RTÉ is also deeply concerned by the targeted killing of journalists in Gaza, the denial of access to international journalists to the territory, and the plight of the remaining hostages.”
Earlier this year, it was reported that more than 70 former Eurovision contestants signed a letter calling on organisers to ban Israel from participating in the 2025 singing contest.
Meanwhile, the UK’s Eurovision performances over the last few years have been mixed. This year, the UK entry Remember Monday’s performance in Basel was another similar outcome. The band finished in 19th place with 88 points, but all of their points came from the jury vote.
The trio performed their country-pop track ‘What The Hell Just Happened?’ during the final in May this year, but their catchy soundtrack failed to secure any points from the public.