RTVE, the Spanish national broadcaster, has today announced the return of the Festival Internacional de la Canción de Benidorm, a national selection to choose Spain’s Eurovision representative.
The music festival was previously held in Benidorm almost every year from 1959 until 2006, and was designed to be a celebration of Spanish music, based on the Italian Festival di Sanremo.
While the Festival has not previously functioned as a national selection, many previous winners have also represented Spain at Eurovision, including Julio Iglesias, Raphael, Karina and La Década Prodigiosa.
“Benidorm is the place to catapult us into joy”
The announcement was made by Pérez Toreno, President of RTVE, alongside Ximo Puig, Amalia Martínez de Velasco, Toni Pérez, María Eizaguirre and Ruth Lorenzo, who performed a mash-up of Waterloo, Dancing In The Rain, and Don’t Stop Believing.
Pérez Toreno openly stated his ambitious plans for the Festival: “We believe that we can win Eurovision 2022.”
More details revealed suggest that the aim of the Festival is to focus on new music and young, emerging artists.
Ximo Puig, the President of Valencia, said the following: “We want Benidorm to be a meeting point for what we need most now: music, Europe and diversity. With the Benidorm Festival we intend to achieve a reactivation of the Valencian Community.”
How will the Festival run?
Amalia Martínez de Velasco, director of content at RTVE, gave us the following information:
- There will be two semi-finals, followed by a grand final
- The voting will be a mixture of both public televote and a jury vote
- The prize will be to represent Spain at Eurovision
We do not yet have a date for when the Festival will take place outside of “early 2022”, but this will be announced shortly, along with the submission requirements for artists. Watch this space – we’ll tell you everything as soon as we know!
What do you think of Spain’s new direction? Who would you like to see compete? Let us know in the comments or on social media. Be sure to follow ‘THAT Eurovision Site’ on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
News: RTVE
Photo: Cómo Funciona
Tim J 
Jazzi Dibben
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