The music festival Benidorm Fest will return to its usual dates in late January for its 2027 edition. The semifinals will take place on January 26th and 28th, while the grand final is set for Saturday, January 30th. This return to late January follows a temporary date shift to mid-February in the 2026 edition.
The city of Benidorm will once again be the center of national music and television attention for a week. RTVE maintains the festival as its own project, independent of Spain's participation in Eurovision. In fact, the event will coincide with a similar situation to the current one, as RTVE president José Pablo López has announced a proposal to suspend Spain's participation in Eurovision for 2027.
López has linked this decision to Israel's continued participation in the European contest, noting that despite technical advancements in the rules, the organization still has an "evident pending issue in the ethical field." If the proposal is approved by the Board of Directors, the winner of Benidorm Fest would not automatically secure a ticket to Eurovision for the second consecutive year.
This decoupling from Eurovision reinforces the Benidorm Fest's unique identity, a path initiated in the previous edition. RTVE had already confirmed the celebration of a sixth edition regardless of the decision regarding the European festival. The contest, born in 2021 from the collaboration between RTVE, the Generalitat Valenciana, and the City Council of Benidorm, aims to revive the spirit of the Benidorm Song Festival and serve as a platform for selecting Spain's representative for Eurovision.
The original festival ran from 1959 to 2006 and featured artists such as Raphael and Julio Iglesias. In this new phase, Benidorm Fest has boosted the careers of artists like Chanel (winner in 2022), Blanca Paloma (2023), Nebulossa (2024), and Melody (2025). The 2026 edition concluded with the victory of Tony Grox and LucyCalys with the song ‘T Amaré’.
