RTVE faces a key week to decide whether Spain will participate in Eurovision 2027
September 15th is the deadline to register for Eurovision 2027, although European public broadcasters will have an extra month to withdraw from the competition without penalty.
Melody from Spain reacts as she arrives for the Grand Final of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, in Basel, May 17, 2025
Burgas is preparing for the 71st Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held in the Bulgarian port city on the Black Sea during the week of May 11-15. European public broadcasters have until Tuesday, September 15, to confirm their participation in the most famous song contest on the continent. So far, the biggest news regarding Eurovision 2027 is the absence of the Dutch public broadcaster AVROTROS, confirming the Netherlands as the only country to maintain its 2026 boycott into 2027. The other four countries—Spain, Ireland, Iceland, and Slovenia—have not yet announced their participation, with just over a week remaining before the Eurovision 2027 entry deadline. If they choose not to register, European public broadcasters have up to an additional month to withdraw from the competition without penalty.
Spain awaiting a decision on its return
El caso español es uno de los grandes interrogantes de Eurovisión 2027. RTVE no participó en la edición de 2026 después de que la UER confirmara la presencia de Israel en el certamen. La decisión rompió una trayectoria histórica de participación de España en Eurovisión y convirtió al país en una de las ausencias más destacadas de aquella edición. Para 2027, España todavía no figura entre los países que han confirmado su participación. La cuestión vuelve a estar condicionada por la presencia de Israel y por la postura que adopte RTVE ante las nuevas reglas aprobadas por la UER. Por ahora, por tanto, no hay representante español ni proceso de selección en marcha para la próxima edición. Sin embargo, la puerta no se encuentra cerrada del todo y las bases del Bendiorm Fest 2027 mantienen la posibilidad de que España regrese a Eurovisión el año que viene.
RTVE presented the regulations for the Spanish music competition for next year several months ago. One of the most noteworthy sections addresses the question of whether the public broadcaster plans to return to the most important competition in Europe the following year. Specifically, section 3 of the rules states that, as is customary, the winners of Benidorm Fest 2027 will be available to RTVE to participate in events, programs, and promotional activities after the competition and until the end of July of that same year. Following this, the public broadcaster mentions the possibility of participating in the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) competition. As our colleague Beatriz Madrueño reported, RTVE has introduced a series of changes to the rules of Benidorm Fest 2027. In particular, for the next edition, the age for participation has been raised from 16 to 18, and controls on authorship and the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been strengthened. Thus, compositions must be the work of human authors, and AI-generated voices will not be permitted. Linguistic limits are also established, with a predominance of Spanish or co-official languages, and offensive, political, or advertising messages are prohibited. Regarding the staging, performances must be live, without instruments on stage, and with a pre-recorded musical backing track. Vocal effects are permitted for aesthetic purposes, provided they do not alter or obscure the lead vocals, which must be clearly recognizable. Backing vocals may be live or recorded, but in no case may they include the lead singer's voice.
For Spain, the big question remains whether RTVE will change its stance and submit another application after its absence in 2026.