All change ahead as RTVE reveal rules for Benidorm Fest 2026.
Benidorm Fest will once again be returning next year to find Spain’s Eurovision 2026 representative. The Spanish broadcaster has unveiled the rules and regulations for next years contest, ahead of the song submissions opening yesterday. The full rules and regulations can be found here.
New voting system
Benidorm Fest 2026 will once again be made up of two semi finals and one final. The voting system in all three shows will be 50% jury vote and 50% televote. However, the televote next year will be split – 25% of the televote will come from phone calls / text messages and the RTVE Play app, whilst the other 25% will come from a public opinion polling panel composed of a sample of the Spanish population, which have been selected using statistical rules.
Creative direction
For the first time in the history of Benidorm Fest, there will be a creative team. This team will be lead by an industry professional who will be responsible for creating, co-ordinating, and supervising the stage production for each entry. RTVE say that the goal is to achieve greater aesthetic and technical coherence for the festival.
However, despite there being an official creative team for Benidorm Fest 2026, artists are still free to use an external artistic team if they wish to, as has been the case in every Benidorm Fest so far. If any artist choses to use their own artistic team, the stage design will be carried out in collaboration with their team and RTVE’s creative team.
Money, Money, Money!
A new addition to Benidorm Fest 2026 is that the winning entry will recieve a cash prize of 150,000 euros gross from RTVE. 100,000 euros will go to the winning artist/s themselves, whilst the remaining 50,000 euros will go to the songwriters. In addition to this, all royalties from the winning song will go to the author/s of the song.
The submissions window for Benidorm Fest 2026 opened on June 5th at 10:00 CEST, and it will remain open until 11:59pm CEST on Wednesday 24th September. Applications for Benidorm Fest 2026 can be submitted here.
Since the return of Benidorm Fest in 2022, Spain has enjoyed a top three placing with Chanel in 2022, their first since 1995, and a top 10 jury finish for Blanca Paloma in 2023. Spanish singer, songwriter and dancer, Melody won the most recent Benidorm Fest earlier this year with her song “Esa Diva”. She went on to represent Spain at Eurovision 2025 in Basel, where she finished in 24th place.
Are you excited for Benidorm Fest 2026? Which Spanish singers would you like to see competing in the festival? Share your artist wishlist in the comments section below!
Source: rtve.es
Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU
