The official dates for Benidorm Fest 2026, have been revealed! The festival will take place on February 10th, 12th, and 14th – plus, who is the acclaimed artistic director leading the competition?
Benidorm Fest 2026 will once again serve as Spain’s national selection for Eurovision, marking its fifth consecutive year in this role. The grand final is scheduled for February 14th, with the semi-finals set for February 10th and 12th. The winner will represent Spain at Eurovision 2026 in Austria. During the press conference announcing the festival dates, the name of the artistic director was also revealed: none other than Sergio Jaén, who directed the winning Austrian entry at Eurovision 2025, “Wasted Love” by JJ, as well as several other successful Eurovision performances.
Sergio Jaén – A Familiar Name in the Eurovision World
Sergio Jaén is a highly respected Spanish director who will be responsible for staging Spain’s entry at Eurovision 2026. Jaén holds a degree in film and television and currently resides in the United Kingdom. Throughout his career, he has worked with international artists such as Dua Lipa and is no stranger to the Eurovision stage.
In 2024, Jaén directed the Irish entry at Eurovision, “Doomsday Blue” by Bambie Thug. For Eurovision 2025, many countries enlisted his expertise: Cyprus with “Shh” by Theo Evan, Finland with “ICH KOMME” by Erika Vikman, and the winning Austrian song “Wasted Love” by JJ. Additionally, he was responsible for directing one of the artistic interval acts at Junior Eurovision 2024 in Madrid – his first collaboration with Spain’s national broadcaster, RTVE.
In an interview with the Spanish Eurovision website eurovision-spain.com, Jaén shared that he had just four days to prepare the staging for the Austrian song, but as he put it.
“The short time didn’t stop me from being confident that everything would come together”.
After directing the Irish entry at Eurovision 2024, he declared:
“I would be happy to participate in Benidorm Fest”.
Expressing clear interest in Spain’s national selection.
Can Jaén Save Spain from the Bottom Spots?
Despite being one of the “Big 5” countries and automatically qualifying for the final, Spain has struggled in the contest year after year. In the past decade, Spain has reached the top 20 only twice – once with Chanel and the song “SloMo” in 2022, and the following year with Blanca Paloma and “EAEA”, which finished just 17th. In contrast, Sergio Jaén has achieved notable success with the entries he has directed, bringing innovative staging to the Eurovision stage.
From conversations I’ve had with Eurovision fans in the EuroMix community, there is clear anticipation for Sergio’s artistic direction – this time, finally, for his home country Spain. As someone who has covered the contest for several years, I have seen firsthand how internal changes within the Spanish delegation can dramatically affect the country’s results, for better or worse – and this year is expected to be no different.
Spain in Eurovision 2025
“Esa Diva” (in English: “That Diva”) is the title of the song performed by singer Melody, who represented Spain at Eurovision 2025 in Basel, Switzerland.
Spain finished 24th with 37 points – 27 points from the juries (21st place) and only 10 (22nd place) from the televotes. In the last 20 years, Spain managed to finish only 3 times in the top 10 – in 2012, 2014 and 2022.
Eurovision 2025: This was Spain’s 65th participation in Eurovision. Spain joined the competition in 1961 and won it twice consecutively in 1968 and 1969. Spain has hosted the contest on its territory only once in 1969 and since then holds the longest waiting time since its last victory – 56 years.
