Spain in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

María Isabel who won for Spain at Junior Eurovision 2004.

Spain is one of the sixteen countries to have made their debut at the inaugural Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003, which took place on 15 November 2003 at the Forum in Copenhagen, Denmark.[2] Child-singer, Sergio, was the first participant to represent Spain with the song "Desde el cielo",[3] which finished in second place out of sixteen participating entries, achieving a score of one hundred and thirty-seven points.[4] Spain is one of the most successful countries in the contest - the country has won the contest once, 2004, represented by María Isabel with "Antes muerta que sencilla", as well as coming second twice, in both 2003 and 2005, and finishing in third place in 2019 at its return to the contest and once again in 2020. The remaining Spanish entrant finished in fourth position in 2006, thus making Spain the only country to participate in the contest never finishing outside the top 5. Spanish broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE) did not return in 2007, stating "the Junior Eurovision promotes stereotypes we do not share".[5]

In 2012, website esckaz.com asked Spanish broadcaster TVE about their participation in future editions. TVE was not able to give an affirmative or negative response on their participation.[6] Since 2013, there were several attempts to manage the return of Spain to the contest. During the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, the head of the Spanish delegation, Federico Llano said that TVE was not planning to participate in the 2014 Contest.[7][8] In 2014, it was stated that European Broadcasting Union TV Committee would discuss the possibility of allowing commercial television channels to participate, in order to negotiate with Spanish private broadcasters to manage the return of Spain to the contest. These attempts did not come to fruition.[9][10][11][12][13] In 2015, several media outlets reported that TVE was working on returning to the contest, but, these claims were not confirmed by the broadcaster.[14][15]

On 13 May 2016, EBU Executive Supervisor Jon Ola Sand announced at a press conference that the EBU were in contact with broadcasters from several countries including Spain, so that they would participate in the 2016 contest.[16] On 28 September 2016, however, Spain was not listed as one of the seventeen participating countries in the contest.[17] RTVE returned to the contest in 2019 after a 13-year absence.[1]

The contests are broadcast online worldwide through the official Junior Eurovision Song Contest website junioreurovision.tv and YouTube. In 2015, the online broadcasts featured commentary in English by junioreurovision.tv editor Luke Fisher and 2011 Bulgarian Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrant Ivan Ivanov.[18] The Spanish broadcaster, Televisión Española, sent their own commentators to the contest in order to provide commentary in the Spanish language. Spokespersons were also chosen by the national broadcaster in order to announce the awarding points from Spain. The table below list the details of each commentator and spokesperson since 2003.

• Spain in the Eurovision Dance Contest – Dance version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
• Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest – Senior version of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
• Spain in the Eurovision Young Dancers – A competition organised by the EBU for younger dancers aged between 16 and 21.
• Spain in the Eurovision Young Musicians – A competition organised by the EBU for musicians aged 18 years and younger.