Shadow of manipulation at Eurovision, Spain demands an audit of its votes: We have not supported Israel!

Tensions between RTVE (Public Broadcasting of Spain) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) continue to escalate. According to sources close to the organization, Spain's public broadcaster decided to request an audit from the organization responsible for televoting at Eurovision.

The purpose of the audit is to verify the results of the Spanish televoting, as it appears to have supported Israel's song, which Spain is said to dispute as true.

RTVE received 142,688 votes in the Eurovision final on Saturday evening, according to the report requested by the network from the EBU and received today, Sunday. The initial report received from Spain was a list of countries in which it cast the most votes, but did not specify the number of votes for each.

After insisting on getting more accurate data, RTVE received a new analysis from the festival organizer, who only reported that, on the night of the grand finale, it received 7,283 phone calls, 23,840 text messages (SMS) and 111,565 online votes.

But this report only shows the aggregated data from the German company responsible for counting them, without a more precise analysis, public body sources explain. For this reason, this Monday the network will request an audit to clarify what exactly happened. The Spanish jury awarded 0 points to Israel's song "New Day Will Rise".

RTVE knows that other countries will require similar checks, the same sources explained to El País.

Spanish public television began broadcasting the Eurovision 2025 final by broadcasting a message about Gaza, despite threats from the EBU.

"When it comes to human rights, silence is not an option," was the message that appeared in English and Spanish on RTVE, Spain's public television. The message was projected in white letters, on a black background, at the beginning of the broadcast of the Eurovision 2025 final.

As the Spanish newspaper El Pais notes: "RTVE started broadcasting Eurovision with this message, despite the contest's threats to fine the network if its commentators report the conflict in Gaza."

RTVE commentators informed the audience that the EBU, the European Broadcasting Union, has sent a letter warning Spanish broadcaster RTVE of "possible criminal sanctions" if references to the Gaza war are repeated. The case was the comments of the presenters during the broadcast of the second Eurovision semi-final, on Thursday.

Spanish presenters called for a discussion on Israel's participation in the event and recalled the death toll in the Gaza Strip, which according to United Nations figures exceeds 53,000 and includes more than 15,000 children.