| Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest | |
|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest | |
 | |
| Participating broadcaster | Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE; 2007–present) Formerly
|
| Participation summary | |
| Appearances | 64 |
| First appearance | 1961 |
| Highest placement | 1st:1968,1969 |
| Host | 1969 |
| Related articles | |
| External links | |
| RTVE page | |
Spain's page at Eurovision.tv | |
Spain has been represented at theEurovision Song Contest in every edition since1961, in total 64 times. The current Spanish participating broadcaster in the contest isRadiotelevisión Española (RTVE). Spain is one of the "Big Five" countries, along withFrance,Germany,Italy, and the United Kingdom, that are automatically prequalified for the final, due to their participating broadcasters being the largest financial contributors to theEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU).
Spain has won the contest twice, first in1968 with the song "La La La" performed byMassiel and again in1969, when "Vivo cantando" bySalomé was involved in a four-way tie withFrance, theNetherlands and theUnited Kingdom. The 1969 contest inMadrid is the only time Spain has hosted the event, since lots were drawn after 1969's four-way tie and the1970 contest was hosted by the Netherlands. Other good results in the 20th century were four second places with "En un mundo nuevo" byKarina in1971, "Eres tú" byMocedades in1973, "Su canción" byBetty Missiego in1979, and "Vuelve conmigo" byAnabel Conde in1995, and a third place with "Lady, Lady" byBravo in1984. The country finished last withnul points three times: in1962,1965, and1983, and also finished last in1999 and2017.
Since the start of the 21st century, Spain has reached the top ten seven times, with "Dile que la quiero" byDavid Civera (2001) finishing sixth, "Europe's Living a Celebration" byRosa (2002) finishing seventh, "Dime" byBeth (2003) finishing eighth, "Para llenarme de ti" byRamón (2004) finishing tenth, both "Quédate conmigo" byPastora Soler (2012) and "Dancing in the Rain" byRuth Lorenzo (2014) also finishing tenth, and "SloMo" byChanel (2022) finishing third. Spain has also failed to reach the top twenty in ten of the last eighteen contests, including for six consecutive contests (2015–21). With "Eaea" byBlanca Paloma placing 17th in2023, Spain became the first country to finish in all possible positions in the final (1st–26th). Spain is the current participating country with the longest active victory drought, spanning over a total of 56 years (1969–2025).
Televisión Española (TVE) was a full member of theEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU), thus eligible to participate in theEurovision Song Contest. It participated in the contest representing Spain since itssixth edition in 1961. Since 2007, after arestructuring that led to the incorporation of TVE into the currentRadiotelevisión Española (RTVE) corporation, it is the latter who participates representing Spain.
Spain has regularly changed the selection process used in order to find the country's entry for the contest, either a national final or internal selection (sometimes a combination of both formats) has been held by the broadcaster at the time. Between 1977 and 1999, Spain's entries were selected internally by TVE. Before that, internal selections and national contests, likePasaporte a Dublín (Passport to Dublin) in 1971, were alternated.[1]
From 2000, Spain has used various selection formats with different results. In 2000 and 2001, TVE organised a national final calledEurocanción (Eurosong), where the Spanish representative was selected for the contest.[2] From 2002 to 2004, the reality television talent competitionOperación Triunfo (the Spanish version ofStar Academy) was used to select the entry, a format that renewed the Spanish audience's interest in the contest[3] and brought three top 10 results in a row, until TVE decided not to host any further editions of the series. In 2005, the national finalEurovisión 2005: Elige nuestra canción (Eurovision 2005: Choose Our Song) was organised, where the audience chose their favourite song among a pre-selection made by TVE of unknown artists submitted to them by record labels. The result in the Eurovision final was not good and for 2006, the selection was made internally for the first time since 1999, with a similar result. In 2007, Spain's entry was decided through theMisión Eurovisión 2007 show, with a disappointing result once again.
From 2008 to 2010, the Internet was the key element of the competitions used by RTVE to select the Spanish entry. In 2008, thesocial networking website MySpace was involved in the national finalSalvemos Eurovisión (Let's Save Eurovision). A website was created to make it possible for anyone to upload a song and proceed to a televised final if chosen by online voters or an expert jury. The result improved a little, but not much; nevertheless the interest of the Spanish audience was revived again.[3] For 2009, MySpace was still involved in the selection processEurovisión 2009: El retorno (Eurovision 2009: The Return), although some changes were introduced in the format.[4] The result was the worst in the 2000s (decade): 24th place. In 2010, a similar format,Eurovisión: Destino Oslo, selected the Spanish entry, with the best result since 2004 (15th).[5]
In 2011, Internet voting was scrapped from the new selection methodDestino Eurovisión. After a further disappointing result (23rd), for 2012, RTVE decided to approach an established act,Pastora Soler, and organise a national final to select her song.[6] A top ten result was achieved for the first time since 2004. The same procedure was repeated in 2013, withEl Sueño de Morfeo as the established act, which turned out one of the most disappointing results (25th out of 26 entries) in the country's Eurovision history; some critics, however, blamed a less-than-stellar performance of an otherwise solid song.[7] In 2014, RTVE decided to return to a multi-artist national final procedure, calledMira quién va a Eurovisión (Look who's going to Eurovision); five artists were invited to participate by RTVE. A top ten result was achieved for the second time in three years.
In 2015, for the first time since 2006, both the artist,Edurne, and the song were selected internally by RTVE. On 18 December 2015, RTVE announced that it would organise a national final in order to select the Spanish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. Six acts competed in the national final namedObjetivo Eurovisión, andBarei won the selection process. The same format was used in 2017, andManel Navarro won the selection process; it turned out Spain's first last-place result since 1999.
In 2017, RTVE commissioned anew season ofOperación Triunfo, which returned to TVE after thirteen years, and the series served for the fourth time (after 2002, 2003 and 2004) as the platform to select the Spanish entry for the 2018 contest.[8][9] The result was disappointing (23rd out of 26 entries), but the 2018 Eurovision final was the most-watched in Spain since 2008.[10] Afurther season of the talent show chose the Spanish entry for the 2019 contest with another disappointing result (22nd out of 26 entries).[11]
For the 2020 contest, RTVE selected the Spanish entry internally, withBlas Cantó and the song "Universo" chosen.[12] Following the cancellation of the contest due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, RTVE was one of the first four broadcasters (the other were Greece'sERT, Netherlands'AVROTROS and Ukraine'sUA:PBC) that confirmed its participation for the 2021 edition with the same artist who would have participated for 2020, in this case Cantó.[13] His 2021 entry "Voy a quedarme" went on to finish in 24th place with six points, marking the sixth time in a row that Spain has finished outside of the top twenty.
For the 2022 contest, it was announced that RTVE would useBenidorm Fest, a revamped version of theBenidorm International Song Festival to select the nation's entry among thirteen candidates.[14][15][16] The broadcaster signed a contract with theregional government of the Valencian Community to hold the event for four editions.[17] The first Benidorm Fest was won byChanel with "SloMo", which finished in third place at Eurovision with 459 points, thereby achieving Spain's best Eurovision result since 1995.[18]
Since 1999, Spain, along withFrance,Germany, and theUnited Kingdom, have automatically qualified for the Eurovision final regardless of their results in previous contests.[19] The participating broadcasters from these countries earned this special status by being the four biggest financial contributors to the EBU, and subsequently became known as the "Big Four".Italy returned to the contest in 2011, resulting in the countries becoming members of a "Big Five".[20]
Only three times in the contest's history has a non-winning entry been allowed to perform again, and in two of these instances, the entries in question were Spanish representatives (the other one being the Italian entry in1958, "Nel blu dipinto di blu" byDomenico Modugno). The first time this happened to a Spanish representative was in the1990 contest inZagreb, whenAzúcar Moreno opened the contest with the song "Bandido". The orchestra and the recorded backing track began the song out of sync, which caused the singers to miss their cue. The singers left the stage after a few seconds, and no explanation was given at the time. After a few uneasy moments, the music began correctly and the song was performed in full. Azúcar Moreno and "Bandido" went on to place fifth in the final vote tally, though the juries at the time actually awarded their points after watching the dress rehearsal performances, so the restart did not affect Spain's overall result either positively or negatively.
Twenty years later, at the2010 contest in Oslo, Spain was drawn to perform second in the running order, andDaniel Diges's performance of "Algo pequeñito" was disturbed by Catalan pitch invaderJimmy Jump. However, Diges performed the song in full, despite the invader's intrusion and subsequent removal from the stage by security personnel, receiving warm applause for continuing from the audience at theTelenor Arena. After Serbia's performance, co-presenterNadia Hasnaoui announced that, according to the rules, Diges would be given a second chance once all the remaining countries had performed. Nonetheless, the juries ranked the dress-rehearsal performance of "Algo pequeñito" 20th out of 25 with 43 points, whereas the televoting results ranked Spain 12th, with 106 points. The combination of jury and televote results gave Spain a 15th-place finish.
| 1 | First place |
| 2 | Second place |
| 3 | Third place |
| ◁ | Last place |
| X | Entry selected but did not compete |
| † | Upcoming event |
| Artist | Song | Language | AtCongratulations | At Eurovision | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final | Points | Semi | Points | Year | Place | Points | |||
| Mocedades | "Eres tú" | Spanish | Failed to qualify | 11 | 90 | 1973 | 2 | 125 | |
| Year | Location | Venue | Presenter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Madrid | Teatro Real | Laura Valenzuela |
| Year | Category | Song | Performer | Final | Points | Host city | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Fan Award | "Dime" | Beth | 8 | 81 |  Riga |
| Year | Performer | Host city | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Lydia |  Jerusalem |
| Year | Conductor[b] | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Rafael Ferrer | [25] | |
| 1962 |  Jean Roderes | [c] | |
| 1963 | Rafael Ibarbia | ||
| 1964 | |||
| 1965 | Adolfo Ventas | ||
| 1966 | Rafael Ibarbia | ||
| 1967 | Manuel Alejandro | ||
| 1968 | Rafael Ibarbia | ||
| 1969 | Augusto Algueró | [d] | |
| 1970 | [26] | ||
| 1971 |  Waldo de los Rios | [e] | |
| 1972 | Augusto Algueró | ||
| 1973 | Juan Carlos Calderón | ||
| 1974 | Rafael Ibarbia | [f] | |
| 1975 | Juan Carlos Calderón | ||
| 1976 | Joan Barcons | ||
| 1977 | Rafael Ibarbia | ||
| 1978 | Ramón Arcusa [es] | ||
| 1979 | José Luis Navarro | ||
| 1980 | Javier Iturraide | [27] | |
| 1981 | Joan Barcons | ||
| 1982 | Miguel Ángel Varona | ||
| 1983 | José Miguel Évora | ||
| 1984 | Eddy Guerin | ||
| 1985 | Juan Carlos Calderón | ||
| 1986 | Eduardo Leiva | ||
| 1987 | |||
| 1988 | Javier de Juan | ||
| 1989 | Juan Carlos Calderón | ||
| 1990 | Eduardo Leiva | ||
| 1991 | |||
| 1992 | Javier Losada | ||
| 1993 | Eduardo Leiva | ||
| 1994 | Josep Llobell | ||
| 1995 | Eduardo Leiva | ||
| 1996 | |||
| 1997 | Toni Xuclà | ||
| 1998 | Alberto Estébanez |
Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the performers, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others.[28]
| Year | Head of delegation | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Pepita Martínez | |
| 1991–2001 | María Teresa Segura | |
| 2002–2016 | Federico Llano [es] | |
| 2017–2021 | Ana María Bordas [es] | |
| 2022–2023 | Eva Mora [es] | |
| 2024–2025 | Ana María Bordas | |
| 2026 | César Vallejo |
| Year | Television commentator | Radio commentator | Spokesperson | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Federico Gallo [es] | Unknown | Diego Ramírez Pastor [es] | |
| 1962 | Luis Marsillach [es] | |||
| 1963 | Julio Rico | |||
| 1964 | ||||
| 1965 | Pepe Palau [es] | |||
| 1966 | Blanca Álvarez Mantilla | |||
| 1967 | ||||
| 1968 | José María Íñigo | Joaquín Prat | ||
| 1969 | José Luis Uribarri | Unknown | ||
| 1970 | ||||
| 1971 | Joaquín Prat | No spokesperson | ||
| 1972 | Julio Rico | |||
| 1973 | ||||
| 1974 | José Luis Uribarri | Antolín García | ||
| 1975 | No radio commentary | José María Íñigo | ||
| 1976 | ||||
| 1977 | Miguel de los Santos [es] | Isabel Tenaille [es] | ||
| 1978 | Matías Prats Luque | |||
| 1979 | Manuel Almendros [es] | |||
| 1980 | Alfonso Lapeña | |||
| 1981 | Isabel Tenaille | |||
| 1982 | Marisa Medina | |||
| 1983 | José-Miguel Ullán | Rosa Campano | ||
| 1984 | Matilde Jarrín | |||
| 1985 | Antonio Gómez [es] | |||
| 1986 | ||||
| 1987 | Beatriz Pécker [es] | |||
| 1988 | ||||
| 1989 | Tomás Fernando Flores [es] | |||
| 1990 | Luis Cobos | |||
| 1991 | Tomás Fernando Flores | María Ángeles Balañac | ||
| 1992 | José Luis Uribarri | |||
| 1993 | ||||
| 1994 | ||||
| 1995 | Belén Fernández de Henestrosa | |||
| 1996 | ||||
| 1997 | ||||
| 1998 | ||||
| 1999 | Hugo de Campos | |||
| 2000 | ||||
| 2001 | Jennifer Rope [es] | |||
| 2002 | Nieves Herrero and José María de Juana | Anne Igartiburu | ||
| 2003 | No radio commentary | |||
| 2004 | Beatriz Pécker | |||
| 2005 | Ainhoa Arbizu [es] | |||
| 2006 | Sonia Ferrer | |||
| 2007 | Ainhoa Arbizu | |||
| 2008 | José Luis Uribarri | |||
| 2009 | Joaquín Guzmán [es] | Iñaki del Moral [es] | ||
| 2010 | José Luis Uribarri | Ainhoa Arbizu | ||
| 2011 | José María Íñigo | Elena S. Sánchez | ||
| 2012 | ||||
| 2013 | Inés Paz | |||
| 2014 | Spanish:Paco González andTiempo de juego [es] team Catalan:Sergi Mas [es] | Carolina Casado [es] | ||
| 2015 | José María Íñigo andJulia Varela | No radio commentary | Lara Siscar [es] | |
| 2016 | Jota Abril [es] | |||
| 2017 | Nieves Álvarez | |||
| 2018 | Tony Aguilar and Julia Varela | |||
| 2019 | Daniel Galindo | |||
| 2021 | Imanol Durán | |||
| 2022 | Imanol Durán, Sara Calvo and David Asensio | |||
| 2023 | David Asensio, Imanol Durán, Irene Vaquero and Ángela Fernández | Ruth Lorenzo | ||
| 2024 | Spanish: Tony Aguilar and Julia Varela Catalan:[g] Sònia Urbano andXavi Martínez [es] | Spanish: David Asensio, Sara Calvo, Ángela Fernández, Manu Martín-Albo and Luis Miguel Montes Catalan: Sònia Urbano and Xavi Martínez | Soraya Arnelas | |
| 2025 | Spanish: David Asensio, Sara Calvo, and Luis Miguel Montes Catalan: Sònia Urbano and Xavi Martínez | Chanel | [58][59][60][61] |
| Year | Stage director(s) | Costume designer(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Unknown | André Courrèges | |
| 1969 | Manuel Pertegaz | ||
| 1971 | Antonio Nieto | ||
| 1979 | Undisclosed | ||
| 1980 | Jesús del Pozo | ||
| 1983 | Undisclosed[h] | ||
| 1984 | Jesús del Pozo | ||
| 1985 | José Ramón de Aguirre | ||
| 1988 | Francis Montesinos [es] andAntonio Alvarado [es] | ||
| 1989 | Mercedes Salazar | ||
| 1990 | Undisclosed[i] | ||
| 1993 | Victorio & Lucchino [es] | ||
| 1995 | Leonor Parrilli | Javier Larraizar | |
| 1999 | Unknown | Ágatha Ruiz de la Prada | |
| 2001 | Zara[j] | ||
| 2002 | Poty Castillo | Jorge Pérez[k] | |
| 2003 | Marieta Calderón | Etxart & Panno | |
| 2005 | Poty Castillo | Amparo Macías | |
| 2008 | Mayte Marcos | Undisclosed | |
| 2009 | Juan Pedro López | ||
| 2010 | Carlo Pignatelli [it] | ||
| 2011 | Lola González | Sara Lage and Maru Calderón | |
| 2012 | Francis Viñolo | Cañavate | |
| 2013 | Unknown | Yolancris | |
| 2014 | Karim Design[l] | ||
| 2015 | Tinet Rubira [es] | José Fuentes | |
| 2016 | Niccolò Piccardi and Florian Boje | Raúl Amor[k] | |
| 2017 | Hans Pannecoucke | ||
| 2018 | Tinet Rubira | Teresa Helbig [es] and Paco Varela | |
| 2019 | Fokas Evangelinos | Armani, Ana Margo and Guillermo Villanueva | |
| 2021 | Marvin Dietmann | Jaime Álvarez | |
| 2022 | Kyle Hanagami | Palomo Spain [es] | |
| 2023 | Bentor Albelo and Javier Rojo | Paola de Diego | |
| 2024 | Juan Sebastián and Israel Reyes | Michael Costello | |
| 2025 | Mario Ruiz | Gustavo Adolfo Tarí |
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