Sánchez backs Vote Eurovision boycott as five countries skip Vienna
vote eurovision has reached a new fault line in Vienna, where Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia and Iceland are skipping the 70th anniversary contest over Israel’s inclusion. Pedro Sánchez said Spain would not be there, putting a national government’s position behind a protest that has already pushed broadcasters to rewrite their Saturday night schedules.
Sánchez draws the line
Pedro Sánchez said on Friday, “In the face of illegal war and also genocide, silence is not an option.” He added, “We will not be in Vienna, but we will do so with the conviction that we are on the right side of history.” That puts Spain at the center of the five-country boycott and gives the dispute a political edge beyond the usual voting blocs and stagecraft.
William Lee Adams called it “the biggest boycott that Eurovision has ever seen, and that goes a long way to dent its image. Eurovision is meant to bring countries together, and if countries no longer want to participate that undermines the entire enterprise.” The line matters because the contest is not just a TV event in Vienna; it is run by the European Broadcasting Union, a grouping of 113 public service media across 56 countries.
Alternative schedules in Europe
Spain’s state broadcaster TVE will air an alternative music show instead of ballads at the Wiener Stadthalle arena. Ireland’s RTÉ is replacing the live final with a 1996 episode of Father Ted, in which Catholic priests sing My Lovely Horse at a European contest and earn nul points. Slovenia’s RTV will show documentaries on Gaza, turning the boycott into a programming decision as well as a political one.
Israel and its supporters say antisemitism drives the boycott. Supporters of the protest accuse the contest of art-washing atrocities against Palestinians. The split has already spilled into the arena: chants of “stop the genocide” erupted during the semi-final performance of Israel’s contestant, Noam Bettan.
Vienna security and old echoes
Police have ramped up security in Vienna amid a febrile mood around Saturday night’s final. Chris West said, “The year where this all boiled over was 2024.” He added, “That’s when things got completely out of hand and the EBU lost control. They haven’t really got it back.”
The contest has lived through political pressure before, including Austria’s boycott of Spain in 1969 because Spain was a dictatorship. ABBA’s 1974 win with Waterloo even carried the lyric, “The history book on the shelf / Is always repeating itself.” This year’s boycott goes further than either of those touchstones, because five countries have walked away at once and broadcasters have already shifted viewers to substitute programming.
For viewers in the boycotting countries, the live competition is being replaced before it begins. For Eurovision itself, the damage is reputational as much as numerical: a 70th anniversary show should have been about scale and reach, but the bigger story is who chose not to show up.
