Spain will withdraw from next year’s Eurovision Song Contest if Israel is allowed to compete, the country’s public broadcaster RTVE announced on Tuesday.
The warning makes Spain the first of Eurovision’s “big five” financial backers alongside Britain, France, Germany and Italy to threaten a boycott over Israel’s participation.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the contest, is expected to decide in December whether Israel’s broadcaster KAN can remain in the 2026 edition. If the decision goes in Israel’s favor, RTVE said it would be forced to carry out its threat and withdraw for the first time in history.
The announcement followed Spanish Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun’s call a day earlier for a boycott, citing Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. “What we cannot allow is double standards in culture,” Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had argued earlier in May, urging Israel’s exclusion from Eurovision just as Russia was banned after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Sanchez on Monday also pressed for Israel’s suspension from international sports, after pro-Palestinian protests in Madrid forced the cancellation of a stage of the Vuelta a España cycling race over the participation of the Israel–Premier Tech team.
Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland and the Netherlands have likewise threatened to pull out of the 2026 contest if Israel remains. The EBU, in a July statement, said it had opened consultations with members on how to manage participation amid geopolitical disputes and would study how other cultural and sporting bodies had addressed similar dilemmas.
Eurovision, the world’s largest televised music competition, drew 166 million viewers across 37 countries in 2025. Austrian singer JJ won that edition, securing Vienna as host city for 2026.
Pro-Palestinian activists have staged protests against Israel’s participation in recent contests, including demonstrations in Malmö, Sweden, in 2024 and in Basel, Switzerland, this May.
Meanwhile Israeli forces have continued the offensive on Gaza City, launching their ‘long-anticipated’ ground assault before dawn on Tuesday. Gaza’s defence ministry reports that at least 36 people have been killed by Israeli fire in the onslaught.
“Last night, we transitioned into the next phase, the main phase of the plan for Gaza City… Forces have expanded ground activity into Hamas’s main stronghold in Gaza, which is Gaza City,” a military official told journalists.
Israel Katz, the defense minister, had earlier declared Gaza City to be “on fire.” He claimed that the Israeli military, or IDF, was using an iron fist to target terrorist infrastructure. According to the IDF, roughly “40 percent” of Gaza City’s population had migrated south.