The data makes it clear that Eurovision has lost one of its most committed fan bases. Spain, which is listed every year by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among the top 10 countries that have purchased the most tickets for live events, does not appear on the list this time. The reason is not that it has no representative to support after RTVE’s withdrawal (the United States ranks fifth for 2026), but that many fans have decided to follow the example of the public broadcaster and not support Israel’s presence in the contest. We spoke with some Spanish citizens who have decided to attend the final in Vienna this Saturday, May 16.
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Luis Sumariva became a fan of the festival at 9 years old, when he saw Dana International, the first openly transgender person to win the contest, triumph with Diva. He is part of AEV (Association of Eurovision Fans of Spain). He does not support Israel either inside or outside the context of the music contest, but he has decided to attend the event this year despite Spain’s decision not to participate. He considers himself addicted, “like other people are to tobacco even knowing it is harmful in many ways,” he says.
He has lived in Vienna for 15 years for work reasons, so this edition caught him nearby. “If it had been held in another city, I would have attended as well,” he assures. He has been attending almost every edition since 2015, precisely when the festival was held in Austria after Conchita Wurst’s victory. He admits that the experience of attending the competition live hooked him and he has followed the contest through Stockholm, Kiev, Lisbon, Tel Aviv, Turin, Malmö, Basel… Until this 2026 when he returned home thanks to JJ’s Wasted Love.
“On Thursday RTVE broadcast a handball match of Israel through Teledeporte,” points out Sumariva. Although the public broadcaster cannot decide whether Spain participates in a sports competition as it can in this music competition, he highlights that it is within their power not to broadcast the event, just as they do with Eurovision, and regrets that “they have not even established a minimum public debate” about it, as they have with the festival. In fact, that debate has been established healthily among his group of eurofan friends. “There are some who, being die-hard fans like me, have decided to boycott this year and protest,” he comments. “These days they are in Vienna, but to attend pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the city instead of Eurovision,” he adds. When asked by this newspaper, RTVE did not want to comment regarding this complaint on social media from part of its audience.
Here they are just athletes, in Eurovision they are UN ambassadors, I imagine, and that is why you cannot participate or broadcast because of Israel’s presence. What guts you have, RTVE. https://t.co/lNudMrXJa1
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— Nafo 🇫🇮🕊️ (@naforue) May 15, 2026
For Sumariva, “society demands a social commitment from Eurovision fans that is not asked of football fans, for example. And many eurofans have caught on to that trend.”
Canarian José Santana is president of OGAE Spain (General Organization of Eurovision Lovers) and considers himself a fan of the contest since childhood, in the early eighties, and began attending in person since the nineties. “This year fewer Spaniards have come in general, but regarding eurofans, the tickets available for OGAE Spain have all been sold, as in previous years,” he comments from Vienna, while calling Israel’s intervention in Gaza “outrageous.” “The absence of Spaniards is not so noticeable. Fans from almost all countries are passionate and I don’t think the narrative that Eurovision is at its lowest popularity moment is that real,” he defends.
Santana considers what has happened with Spain this year to be inconsistent. “In the two previous editions this conflict with Israel already existed and Spaniards continued attending Eurovision en masse. What would have happened if RTVE had decided to participate this edition? You would have all the Spaniards here again,” he defends. Regarding the decline in viewership the festival has experienced this year both on television and digital platforms, the president of OGAE Spain considers it something that also happens other years, depending on whether more or fewer songs engage the audience.
“I am a huge football fan and no one raises this debate with the World Cup or the Olympic Games,” says Santana, who considers that Eurovision “has taken the fall for not being as economically relevant as the football industry” and that “it has served as a smokescreen to cover other issues.” What both agree on is that one can attend Eurovision as an audience member from a critical position. “The EBU’s tendency in conflicts is to do nothing. And the problem is that doing nothing means doing something. Being neutral is also taking sides,” defends Sumariva.
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