Spain will retire from Eurovision if Israel participates, has just announced on Tuesday, September 16, RTVE, Spanish Public Radio and Television.
The Spanish Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, had estimated on Monday that Spain should not participate in this edition of the competition if Israel participated, a boycott already defended by other countries.
“We must ensure that Israel does not participate in the next Eurovision edition” and “if we are not successful, Spain should not participate” in the competition, said Ernest Urtasun during an interview on the public radio, a position already adopted by “Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland and the Netherlands,” he recalled.
“Solidarity with the people of Palestine”
Already in May, the socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said that Israel should be excluded from Eurovision, the largest view of the world, for “solidarity” with the “people of Palestine who (lives) the absurdity of war and bombing.”
Last April, before the 2025 edition of the competition, the Spanish public audiovisual group had requested “a debate” about Israel’s participation in Eurovision. RTVE also transmitted, before the competition, on May 17, a Message asks for peace in Palestine and respect for human rights. Thus frying the instructions of the Uue that insists on the apolitical character of the event.
Spain, which recognized the state of Palestine on May 28, 2024 with Ireland and Norway, has been imposed in recent months as one of the most critical votes in the EU with respect to the Benjamin Netanyahu government, and is a historical support of the Palestinian cause.
After the victory of the Austrian candidate JJ in Basel last May, the Eurovision 2026 competition will take place in Vienna from May 12 to 16. France must also announce this Tuesday if you participate in the competition.
Source: BFM TV
