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Spain is setting its sights firmly on Eurovision 2026, and RTVE is pulling out the stops with significant structural changes to its national selection, Benidorm Fest. Following a successful run in recent years, the broadcaster has announced a series of reforms intended to extend the festival’s reach to new audiences and refresh the way Spain chooses its Eurovision entry.
RTVE President José Pablo López outlined the plans during a parliamentary commission on 25 February 2025. The announcement concerned the fifth edition of Benidorm Fest, which will select Spain’s entry for Eurovision 2026. At that stage, the final rules, the new selection committee and the identity of the artistic director had not yet been announced.
Committee change
Another key change involves revamping the committee responsible for selecting the participating songs. RTVE said it would renew the committee and revise the festival’s rules, with the stated aim of making Benidorm Fest more attractive to new audiences while keeping the selection process relevant to Spain’s musical landscape.
The strategy appears well judged from an audience point of view. López cited a 34% share among viewers aged 13–24 for Benidorm Fest 2025 in parliament. RTVE’s contemporaneous report of the final gave the more precise figure as 33.3% in that demographic, alongside a 17.1% overall share and 1.938 million viewers. So “34%” is best understood as the rounded parliamentary figure rather than the exact final-night result.
Securing the future
Further strengthening the festival’s foundations, RTVE said it intended to renew its agreement with Benidorm City Council and the Generalitat Valenciana. In February, that renewal was still forthcoming rather than completed, although institutional support was subsequently confirmed for staging Benidorm Fest 2026 in Benidorm.
There was more to come after this original announcement. RTVE published the 2026 rules on 4 June 2025, including a €150,000 prize for the winning song: €100,000 for the performers and €50,000 for the songwriters. The rules also provided that publishing-rights income from the winning song would go entirely to its authors.
On 26 June 2025, RTVE appointed Sergio Jaén as the festival’s first dedicated artistic director since Benidorm Fest began in 2022. Jaén had directed Austria’s winning Eurovision 2025 staging for JJ and “Wasted Love”. Finland’s Ari Levelä was announced as visual director, while Mercè Llorens returned as director and José María Payueta as executive producer. Artists could use RTVE’s creative team or retain their own, subject to coordination with the broadcaster.
The 2026 shows were subsequently scheduled for 10 February, 12 February and 14 February, covering the first semi-final, second semi-final and final respectively. These changes do not guarantee Spain a stronger Eurovision result—television has a habit of laughing at guarantees—but they do amount to a more clearly defined attempt to give Benidorm Fest a stronger creative and organisational framework.
