Spanish Prime Minister Calls for Israel's Exclusion from Eurovision

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for Israel's exclusion from the Eurovision Song Contest, stressing his rejection of double standards in the cultural field, even though his country had awarded Israel the highest public vote.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said today that Eurovision organizers should exclude Israel from the competition, just as Russia was excluded after its invasion of Ukraine.

"We cannot allow ourselves to have double standards, even in the cultural sphere," he added.

The European Broadcasting Union issued an official warning to Spain on Saturday evening, prior to the final ceremony, following statements made by Spanish commentators Toni Aguilar and Julia Varla during the broadcast of the "introduction card" accompanying the performance of Israeli actress Yuval Rafael.

The two commentators on the broadcast referred to the number of victims in the Gaza Strip, citing UN figures confirming the deaths of more than 15,000 children. They also noted that Spanish state television, RTVE, had last month requested the European Broadcasting Union reconsider Israel's participation in the competition.

The European Broadcasting Union then threatened to impose "painful fines" on Spain if those references were repeated during the final broadcast.