"Following announcements from Ireland, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Iceland, Spain became on Wednesday the first country among the "Big Five," the five largest contributors to the Eurovision Song Contest, to officially declare its decision to boycott the 2026 event to be held in Vienna from May 12-16, if Israel's participation goes ahead as planned. The country's withdrawal was approved by a majority of the board of directors of Spanish state broadcaster RTVE, with 10 votes in favour, four against, and one abstention."
"The vote came after Spanish Minister for Culture, Ernest Urtasun, stated last week that Spain should withdraw from the event if Israel remained on the list of participating countries. Dutch public broadcaster, AVROTROS, also stated that it could "no longer justify Israel's participation in the current situation, given the ongoing and severe human suffering in Gaza." A decision on Israel's participation is expected in December."
Spain became the first of the Big Five to declare a potential boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna (May 12-16) if Israel participates. RTVE's board approved the withdrawal with 10 votes in favour, four against and one abstention. The decision followed a statement from Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun urging withdrawal if Israel remained listed, and echoed Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS saying Israel's participation could no longer be justified amid severe suffering in Gaza. A final decision on Israel's participation is expected in December. Israel debuted at Eurovision in 1973 as an EBU member; non-European members include Armenia, Azerbaijan and Australia.
Read at www.dw.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]