RTVE, the Spanish national broadcaster and organisers of the annual music festival Benidorm Fest 2026 have confirmed a total of almost 900 entries have been submitted.
🇪🇸 870 songs for Benidorm Fest 2026
According to the Spanish national broadcaster RTVE, a total of 870 songs have been submitted for the upcoming Benidorm Fest 2026. Further information shows that 350 of these submissions were received in the 24-hour window before applications closed. This is over 100 songs down on the number received last year.
Now the selection committee will assess the entries and select 16 proposals for the national final. As well as this, six reserve entries will be chosen. Depending on the outcome of the General Assembly vote in November, Benidorm Fest 2026 will still take place even in the event Spain withdraws from the Vienna contest next May,
Format changes to Benidorm Fest
Recently it was announced that Benidorm Fest will move from its usual January slot, to February instead. The two Semi-Finals will take place on February 10 and 12. On Valentine’s Day, February 14 the Grand Final of Benidorm Fest 2026 will be held.
As well as the confirmation of the dates, the President of RTVE announced changes to the core team of Benidorm Fest. Fresh from his Eurovision success, Sergio Jaén will be working his staging magic in Spain. The new Artistic Director arrives with vast experience. Most notably, Sergio was the creative mind behind the winning staging for Austria’s ‘Wasted Love’ in Basel. Sergio has also had a hand in the entries, of Ireland 2024, Finland 2025 and Cyprus 2025. Earlier this year, Sergio was the Creative and Multicam Consultant of UMK25.
The Creative Director of Benidorm Fest will supervise the creative team and oversee the overall vision of the show and staging of the songs. It is hoped that it will create a more organic and technical flow to the entire production. Much like other similar festivals such as Italy’s Sanremo and Albania’s Festivali i Këngës.
Updates to the voting procedure will see the return of the demoscopic jury. Each of the three live shows will have 50% jury voting and 50% public voting. Within the public voting there will be an equal 50/50 split between public televoting and free app voting (50%) and demoscopic jury (50%). A demoscopic jury is a cross section of the Spanish population collated into a polling panel.
In order to recognise their achievements, the winner of the next edition of Benidorm Fest will receive a cash prize of 150,000 Euros. The songwriters of the winning entry, will take home 50,000 Euros and the performer(s) will receive the remaining 100,000 Euros.
Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest
Since their debut in 1961, with Conchita Bautista and ‘Estando contigo‘, the Iberian nation has participated in 63 consecutive contests. Only the United Kingdom has a longer unbroken streak. So far Spain has won the Eurovision Song Contest on two occasions. Firstly in 1968 with Massiel and ‘La la la‘ and the following year in the dramatic four-way tie, with Salomé and ‘Vivo cantando‘.
Earlier this year Melody won the fourth edition of Benidorm Fest with the energetic, ‘Esa Diva’. During the Grand Final of the Basel contest, Melody achieved 24th place with 37 points.
Who should represent Spain at Eurovision 2026? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra.bsky.social on Bluesky, @escxtra on Instagram, @escxtra on TikTok and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to follow us on Spotify for the latest music from your favourite Eurovision acts. As well as YouTube to see interviews and reactions to the latest Eurovision news.
