Nov 28, 2025
3 min read
Because of the "recent carnage in Gaza," the president of the Council recommends consideration of elections supported by the executive committee in September.
José Pablo López confirms Cortes RTVE's veto on Israel at Eurovision
The president of the corporation justified the retention of the decision, which was supported by the majority of the board in September, with the "genocide committed in Gaza".
The president of RTVE, José Pablo López, confirmed in the Cortes the veto on the September Eurovision during the announcement of the situation of the National Assembly and the independence of the United States, he participated in the removal of the radio and Israel who participated in the summer from the board of directors.The reason for doing so, as he said, is “the genocide that was committed in Gaza.”
Lopez was asked about this by a member of parliament from the socialist group the day before the debate on new measures at the festival and Israel's presence in Eurovision, which will take place next week (December 4 and 5) at the general assembly of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in Geneva (Switzerland), and he stated that "RTVE's position has not changed in this regard."He also added on the position he will defend next week during the EBU meeting in Geneva: "We maintain the same position that a few months ago was not sustainable for two main reasons. First, because of the genocide that took place in Gaza. I continue to think that Eurovision is a competition, but human rights are not a competition: the systematic failure of the people of Israel to respect the rules of the people of Israel itself."
It has not been confirmed what will be directly up for grabs in next week's EBU vote.But it will be another discussion for May's 70th festival in Vienna, which will decide who will participate by the end of this year.A week ago, the EBU announced various updates to the voting system for Eurovision Song Contest in order to solve the problems with telephone voting that have affected Israel massively in the last editions and which Spain officially complained about until it requested a revision for a month in May. According to the EBU, these new rules, which will apply to the 2026 event, aim to "strengthen trust, transparency and public participation" and, incidentally, although it did not say so, bring closerthe position of the countries that announced their withdrawal from the festival due to Israel's participation.
For now, it didn't trust RTVE.At the meeting, decisions must be made on whether Israel participates (which the EBU appears to support), whether countries that have said they will not participate will, and whether new regulatory measures for telephone voting will be adopted.The EBU has, so far, managed to bring back Romania and Bulgaria to the competition, which had been absent in recent years, to compensate for the departure of other members.So far, and before the cease-fire in Gaza, countries such as the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland and Spain have announced their intention to withdraw from the competition if Israel participates after more than two years of deadly attacks on the Gaza Strip.Spain is the most important of the group considering the five countries that invest the most money in festivals in Europe are among the Big Five countries.So it is understood that others will follow suit.
As he did in his previous appearance before the same committee after announcing the decision by a majority vote of the board in September, Lopez emphasized on Thursday that Eurovision is more than just a singing festival.The decision to withdraw RTVE if Israel participates in the next edition was supported by 10 votes in favor of the council members proposed by the PSOE and its parliamentary partners, 4 votes against the council members proposed by the PP, and 1 abstention based on the proposal of the Junts.Lopez accused Israel of "using the contest for political purposes".And try to “influence” the outcome.He added: “I am not being punished for this performance, it is something that has happened for at least the last two years that I have been at the festival.”“I assure you that any other country using this competition will be punished and temporarily suspended,” he concluded.To solve these problems, Eurovision changed some of its rules, made promotion more clear, changed the jury, and introduced professional judges to the semi-finals.
letters and "emphasis"
The person who appeared said that last Monday he received a letter from EBU director general Noel Curran, in which he acknowledged how "thanks to RTVE's pressure, some measures will be taken to prevent state interference and political use of the festival, in addition to the fraudulent votes that, as he said at the beginning, were done."Despite the letter, López said that "these measures are not enough and do not guarantee that state intervention like Israel or any other government will not happen again."Among other decisions, the maximum number of votes for each payment method (whether online, SMS or phone call) will be reduced from 20 to 10, making it more difficult for organized campaigns to influence organized campaigns.
Rorten said this week that the president of the newspaper "Amen sznejne", now "Voice of Eurodate". He asked, apparently.
The countries will not broadcast the festival if it withdraws from Eurovision 2026. Spain will not pay the rights to broadcast part of the three festivals in Europe.In the book, this figure was 331,721 Euros, according to the Thorpacer secret.What will continue to be the Benidorm FEST, which will take place between 10 and 14 February 2026, although it will not choose a Spanish candidate to release the competition.
Your subscription is being used on another device
Would you like to add another user to your subscription?
If you continue reading on this device, it cannot be read on another device.
Guide subscriptions are used on different devices and you can only access EN SAE from one device at a time.
If you want to share your account, change your subscription to Premium mode so you can add another user.Everyone logs in with their own email account, allowing you to personalize your EL PAÍS experience.
Do you have a business subscription?Go here to sign up for multiple accounts.
If you don't have to be aware of what you are using your account, we have thought to change the password here.
If you choose to continue sharing your account, this message will appear on your device and on the device of the other person using your account, affecting your reading experience.You can read the digital subscription terms here.
