RTVE Opens with a Stark Split-Screen as Spain Explains Its Exit from Eurovision 2026
Spain’s withdrawal from Eurovision wasn’t just another headline on the news bulletin and on current affairs programmes — it became the opening image of public television. La hora de La 1 began its broadcast on Friday with a video that left very little room for interpretation: on one side of the screen, Yuval Raphael’s performance, the Israeli entry that won the televote in 2025; on the other, raw footage of Israel’s bombardments in Gaza.
It was a jarring contrast, and that was clearly the point.
Presenter Silvia Intxaurrondo introduced the sequence with a sentence that cut through the usual morning-show politeness:
“Spain denounces that Israel is using this contest to whitewash its image.”
The programme didn’t tiptoe around the subject. The images did much of the talking.
A Decision Announced Live and Repeated Without Euphemisms
The news had already broken earlier in the day during Malas lenguas, with Jesús Cintora announcing RTVE’s withdrawal live. But La 1’s morning magazine took the story and turned it into its editorial opening.
Intxaurrondo summarised the reasoning behind RTVE’s departure: the EBU rejected Spain’s request for a secret voteregarding Israel’s participation at Thursday’s General Assembly in Geneva. The broadcaster had warned for months that Israel’s continued presence would make Spanish participation impossible.
Once the vote was denied, the decision was final.
“RTVE leaves Eurovision after Israel is confirmed in the competition”
La hora de La 1 then laid out the numbers, bluntly:
more than 70,000 Palestinians killed since October 2023, over 360 deaths even after the ceasefire took effect on 10 October, and an active international investigation for genocide.
There was no attempt to soften the language.
No hedging.
No distance.
For a programme on public television, it was unusually direct, and perhaps deliberately so.
Spain Won’t Go to Vienna — and Won’t Broadcast the Contest Either
One of the key points clarified on air is that RTVE is not simply refusing to participate:
it will also not broadcast Eurovision 2026 from Vienna.
For a country with nearly seven decades of uninterrupted presence, that alone is historic.
The presenters were careful to underline what does remain intact:
- Benidorm Fest continues, now even more firmly positioned as an independent music festival.
- Junior Eurovision also remains unaffected, as Israel does not compete in it.
It was a way of saying: Spain is leaving Eurovision, not music.
A Morning Broadcast That Set the Tone
If anyone expected a cautious reaction from TVE, this morning proved otherwise. The split-screen, the casualty figures, the direct accusations and the absence of euphemisms signalled a shift in how the broadcaster wants to frame the story.
Eurovision 2026 may go ahead in Vienna.
Spain, meanwhile, has already moved into a different conversation entirely — one in which the contest is no longer just a stage with glitter, but a political choice with consequences.
And La 1 made sure that message arrived before viewers had even finished their coffee.
Source: VerTele
