Christer Björkman reveals RTVE’s withdrawal over the Israeli entry creates a budget deficit, potentially raising fees for all Eurovision 2027 participants.
The Spanish boycott against Israel is beginning to take a heavy toll – and this time, the other participating nations will be the ones to pay. The veteran Swedish producer, Christer Björkman, who is considered one of the most senior and influential figures behind the scenes of the contest and produced the recent Eurovision 2025 in Basel, revealed in an interview with the Swedish national broadcaster SVT that Spain’s withdrawal has severely damaged the financial balance of the EBU. Consequently, Björkman predicts a significant increase in the participation fees that will be collected from the countries for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2027.
Spain is a member of the “Big 5” (the five founding countries and main financial backers of the contest, which qualify automatically for the final, and include the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy alongside Spain). Its historic absence from the competition has created a massive budgetary vacuum that the EBU is struggling to fill.
The Big 5 Gap: Returning Nations Fail to Offset Deficit
This year, we are witnessing a welcome wave of returns from countries that had been absent from the competition, including Moldova, Bulgaria, and Romania. However, Björkman revealed that the participation fees from these countries are failing to balance the immense economic shortfall left by Spain.
According to the producer, a spike in participation costs next year could pose a real danger to smaller national broadcasters, which are already struggling to bear the economic burden, and could put their ability to participate in the contest at risk.
Politics and Boycotts: The Spanish Senate Investigation
As a reminder, the Spanish national broadcaster RTVE announced last December its complete withdrawal from Eurovision 2026 and even declared that it would not broadcast the contest at all, in protest against the refusal of the EBU to disqualify Israel. This extreme move is not isolated from the internal political context: the Spanish government, led by Pedro Sánchez, relies on a coalition with far-left parties and leads a harsh diplomatic line against Israel.
This conduct by the national broadcaster recently led to the establishment of an investigation committee in the Spanish Senate, intended to examine the politicization and government involvement in the decision to boycott the competition. Curiously, while the Senate investigates the biases of the national broadcaster, the EBU chose to back RTVE and expressed “deep concern” regarding the investigation, claiming a violation of broadcasting independence. Currently, it appears that political struggles and hypocrisy are not only harming the Spanish audience but are directly damaging the European production budget and placing a heavier burden on the rest of the participating nations.
Eurovision 2026: Full Schedule
The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 will take place in May, as tradition dictates. The exact dates are as follows:
- First Semi-Final: Tuesday, May 12th, 2026.
- Second Semi-Final: Thursday, May 14th, 2026.
- Grand Final: Saturday, May 16th, 2026.
For those asking, “at what time will Eurovision 2026 be broadcast,” each of the events will begin at 21:00 CET.
Israel will compete as song number 10 in the first semi-final, which will take place on Tuesday, May 12th, in hopes of a successful performance! If Israel succeeds in entering the list of the top ten songs in the semi-final, it will advance to the grand final, which will be broadcast on May 16th at 21:00 CET.
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.
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Ilay Gaist is a leading Israeli content creator and writer specializing in the Eurovision Song Contest. He is a well-known commentator with extensive expertise in the contest’s history, rules, and dynamics. His passion for Eurovision drives him to deliver rich, professional, and innovative content to his audience.
Ilay holds a bachelor’s degree in Arabic and has a multilingual background. He also engages in cultural research, with a particular focus on global culinary traditions and the evolution of local cuisines around the world.
