TheBenidorm Song Festival (Spanish:Festival de la Canción de Benidorm), known as theBenidorm International Song Festival (Spanish:Festival Internacional de la Canción de Benidorm) in its last three editions, was an annual song contest held inBenidorm, Spain. The contest, based on the ItalianSanremo Music Festival, was created to promote the city as a tourism destination andSpanish music.

The festival, which used to take place in the summer, ran for 39 editions between 1959 and 2006. It was not held in 1979, 1984, and 1986–1992. Starting in 2022, a revamped version of the festival, under the nameBenidorm Fest, has been held byRadiotelevisión Española (RTVE) and theGeneralitat Valenciana;^[1] it served to select theSpanish entry for theEurovision Song Contest up to 2025.

The festival underwent considerable modifications over the years, such as in the prizes. In 2004, it went from national to international. The contest was usually broadcast on radio or television byRed de Emisoras del Movimiento [es] (1959),Televisión Española (1960–1985, 1997–2005),Telecinco (1993–1996), orCanal Nou (1997–2006).

In 1958, atEl Tío Quico kiosk inBenidorm, the mayor of the city,Pedro Zaragoza, the writer and journalist Carlos Villacorta, director of the press office of the General Secretariat of the Movement, and the journalistTeodoro Delgado Pomata [es], came up with the idea of holding a Spanish summer song festival like theSanremo Music Festival what had been done inSanremo, Italy, since 1951. In July 1959, the first edition of theFestival Español de la Canción de Benidorm (Spanish Song Festival of Benidorm) was organised by theRed de Emisoras del Movimiento [es] (REM) at the city's Manila Park.^[2]

The mechanics of the festival during the first editions (from 1959 to 1971) consisted of presenting the songs in double version by two performers, as was usual in the song festivals of the moment, including Sanremo. The victory of the song "Un telegrama" and its huge success in Spain guaranteed the continuity of the festival in Benidorm, despite the fact that some cities in the south of the country tried to take over the organisation of the festival. During this period, the festival produced its greatest hits, such as "Comunicando", "Quisiera ser [es]", "Tu loca juventud", "La vida sigue igual [es]", and "Amor amargo". It also featured the participation of emerging personalities of Spanish light music, such asDúo Dinámico,Raphael,Bruno Lomas [es], Joe y Luis,Michel [es],Los Gritos [es], andJulio Iglesias. In addition, although it was not their catapult to success, during these years artists such asKarina,Víctor Manuel,Lolita Garrido [es],Manolo Otero, andRosa Morena, also participated in the festival.^[2]

On the other hand, the period between 1972 and 1985 marked a certain decline of the festival. The press repeated year after year that the quality of the songs was descending and in fact, during these years, the festival only released the hit "Soledad", byEmilio José [es] and awarded prizes to soloists such asEduardo Rodrigo [es],Juan Erasmo Mochi [es],Juan Camacho [es], orDyango and songwriters such asJuan Pardo, Dúo Dinámico, orEl Lute. Other participants wereBetty Missiego,Braulio,Tito Mora,José Vélez,Beatriz Carvajal,Nydia Caro,Andrés Caparrós [es],Bacchelli, orTino Casal. The changes in the musical and audiovisual panorama brought by the political transition to democracy led to a growing lack of interest in the festival. The non celebration of the 1979 and 1984 editions and experimental editions in 1983 (non-competitive) and 1985 (which searched for a younger audience, inviting pop-rock groups such asAlphaville [es],Seguridad Social [es], orAerolíneas Federales) failed to raise the interest of the public, which led to the cancellation of the festival from 1986 to 1992.^[3]

After a break of seven consecutive years, the contest was held again in 1993, beginning its third phase. In that first year, two categories were differentiated, the pop-rock final and the light song final, but from 1994 onwards, the old formula of awarding prizes to a single song was reinstated. The event became international in 2004, adopting the name ofFestival Internacional de la Canción de Benidorm (Benidorm International Song Festival), and ceased to be held after its 39th edition held in 2006 due to the lack of interest from the public and the media.^[4] During these last 14 editions, the media repercussion of the festival was null, despite awarding the first prize toAlazán [es],Coral Segovia [es], andLa Década Prodigiosa, and the songwritersPablo Motos andRosana Arbelo. Other relevant artists of the Spanish music scene who performed at this stage were Esmeralda Grao, Paco Arrojo,Pasión Vega [es], Luis Livingstone,Mikel Herzog,A las 10 en casa [es],Barei (as part of the duo Dos Puntos), Jesús Cisneros, andInma Serrano.^[2]

The festival used to be broadcast byTelevisión Española (TVE), although during the 1960s and 1970s it was not broadcast entirely because it was a show designed mainly for the audience present in Benidorm, not as a television programme. The editions from 1993 to 1996 were broadcast byTelecinco and from 1997, the broadcasting returned to TVE and the regional channelCanal Nou. The 2006 edition did not have national television coverage as TVE dissociated itself from the project and was only broadcast by Canal Nou.^[5]

In Summer 2019, a commemorative exhibition to mark the 60th anniversary of the festival was held at theMuseo Boca del Calvari [es] and was visited by more than 10,000 people during its first month.^[6]

In 2006, the first prize winner was awarded with the Golden Mermaid Trophy (Sirenita de Oro) and €36,000 (about US$47,000) to produce arecord. Second and third place winners received the Silver Mermaid Trophy (Sirenita de Plata) and the Bronze Mermaid Trophy (Sirenita de Bronce), respectively. The three prizes previously consisted of 100,000 ₧, 50,000 ₧, and 25,000 ₧, respectively.^[7]

• Benidorm, Overview with video of the city. From a local citizen.

• Culture of Spain
• Culture of the Valencian Community
• Song contests
• Music festivals established in 1959
• Benidorm

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