Last week, the EBU revealed changes to the Eurovision Song Contest rules, which will be applied starting with the Eurovision 2026 edition.
The changes raised in the shade of ongoing criticism of some of the national broadcasters, among them RTVE (Spanish national broadcaster).
The Eurovision Song Contest’s Reference Group has approved all the updates. Their impact will be monitored after the 2026 Contest to support further refinements.
Following previous statements, RTVE announced its intentions to withdraw from the Eurovision Song Contest 2026, as long as Israel’s participation is allowed.
In addition, 9 weeks ago, the RTVE board of directors have voted against Spain‘s participation in Eurovision 2026.
Back in the time, the EBU had planned to hold a vote regarding whether Israel should be allowed to participate in Eurovision 2026.
However, the October 7th war has come to its end, followed by a ceasefire.
This led the EBU to cancel the vote and instead organize an open discussion on the topic during the EBU’s General Assembly in early December.
The Joint Parliamentary Control Committee of the Congress and the Senate hosted José Pablo López, president of RTVE, for an appearance concerning the public broadcaster’s potential involvement in Eurovision 2026.
This briefing was held in response to Senator Ramón Morales Quesada’s request for RTVE’s official position to be presented at the forthcoming EBU Assembly in Geneva.
According to EL PAIS, the president of RTVE, José Pablo López, has reaffirmed in Parliament the national broadcaster’s objection to Israel’s participation in Eurovision 2026.
When asked about the matter by a member of parliament from the Socialist group days before the deliberations on new measures for the Eurovision Song Contest and Israel’s participation, which will take place next week at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) General Assembly, López stated that
“RTVE’s position on the matter has not changed. We maintain the same position that was untenable a few months ago for two main reasons. First, because of the Israel-Gaza war, as president of the corporation, I still believe that the Eurovision Song Contest is a competition, but human rights are not. And I think we must bear this in mind. But I want to raise another issue: Israel’s systematic non-compliance with the contest’s own rules.”
José Pablo López expresses his dissatisfaction with the new rules suggested by the EBU, stating that they are just not enough.
He has also revealed that EBU Director General Noel Curran sent an official letter to RTVE, stating that RTVE has paved the path to changing the Eurovision Song Contest rules.
Eurovision 2026 will be held in Vienna, Austria, on May 12th, 14th, and 16th, 2026.
