(RTVE) organised and broadcast Benidorm Fest 2026, the fifth edition of its annual
Benidorm Fest. The competition consisted of two semi-finals and a final. In total, 18 candidate songs were divided between the two semi-finals, nine each. In each semi-final, the six songs with the most votes among a professional jury (50%), a demoscopic panel (25%) and the televote (25%), qualified to the final. During the final, the twelve qualified songs were performed again and the winner was determined following the same voting system as in the semi-finals. RTVE announced new features for this edition of the festival, such as a prize of €100,000 for the winning act and €50,000 for the songwriters. Though the competition was initially announced as the method for selecting the Spanish entry in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in
Vienna, Austria, on 16 September 2025, RTVE announced that it would not participate in Eurovision if
Israel is allowed to compete due to the
Gaza war, although it assured that the Benidorm Fest would be held regardless. On 4 December 2025, after Israel was approved to participate, RTVE announced its non-participation at Eurovision. As a result, this marked the first time in the Benidorm Fest's history that the winner is not given the chance to represent Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest. In addition to
Spotify sponsoring an eponymous prize awarded to one of the participants, RTVE also announced a similar arrangement with
TelevisaUnivision. Likewise, the main trophy design was revamped, returning to the Golden Mermaid used in the original
Benidorm Song Festival; this revamped trophy was also awarded to all previous Benidorm Fest winners ahead of the 2026 edition.
Artistic director and creative team On 26 June 2025, RTVE announced the appointment of Sergio Jaén, who served as artistic director of Austria's winning entry at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2025 and Finland's
that same year, as artistic director of Benidorm Fest. The team also includes Finnish visual designer Ari Levelä as visual and lighting director, and Borja Rueda as choreographer.
Presenters On 5 December 2025,
Jesús Vázquez,
Javier Ambrossi, and
Inés Hernand, were announced as the hosts of the competition, with
Lalachus joining for the final. In addition, each show was preceded by an introductory segment on
RTVE Play, titled
Benidorm Calling and hosted by Lalachus, Ángela Fernández, and Juanjo Bona, and the finale was followed by a commentary show, titled and hosted by Lalachus and Inés Hernand.
Jury members The jury consisted of eight members who are all professionals in the Spanish-speaking music industry, namely Sonia Durán (director of Unión Fonográfica Independiente), Alicia García (director of Strategic Agreements and Sponsorships for Starlite Group), Almudena Heredero (president of Mujeres de la Industria de la Música), Dani Ruiz (composer), Ignacio Meyer (
TelevisaUnivision president), Javier Llano (content director of , Melani Parejo (director for Music in Southern and Eastern Europe for
Spotify), and Roberto Santamaría (director of
Radio Nacional de España), who also served as the jury spokesperson. == Participants ==