That Spain withdrew from Eurovision because Israel is still invited… look, we've finally done something with a bit of dignity. Because one thing is liking the show, the lights, and the fantasy, and another entirely is looking the other way while the Israeli government devastates Gaza like someone cleaning the living room before guests arrive. Well, no, darling. Not everything can be disguised with LED spotlights.
RTVE has said: "Enough is enough." And I, honestly, stand up and applaud. Calmly, with a refined anger, and with the feeling that for once Spain is not playing a bit part in the theater of the absurd. Because it's tiring to be sold normality when what we're seeing is an outrage broadcast live.
The EBU has decided to keep Israel. Very well, let them enjoy it. Let them have their party, let them dance, let them vote, let them smile at the camera as if we didn't all know what's happening in the meantime. But Spain has said: "I'm not participating in this little show." And that gesture, darling… that's class. That's character. That's good old-fashioned bullfighter's shame.
Yes, yes, the usual suspects will come to say we're exaggerating, that Eurovision isn't political, that we have to separate things. Sure, sure. But when it suits them, everything is political, everything is about the flag, and everything is discourse. Well, look, this time the discourse is simple: I'm not going to dance with you while you step on someone else.
Spain doesn't leave just because.
Spain leaves because it has a conscience.
And because what the Israeli Government is doing cannot be covered up with glitter, nor with fireworks, nor with a pretty ballad in the middle of a gala.
So yes: Spain stands firm, says "no," and does so with style.Eurovision can continue with its party; we, at least, don't use it to whitewash atrocities. And that, darling, leaves us in a much better position than any spot on the voting table.
Because I prefer to be a country that gets up and leaves…
before one who sits applauding the intolerable.
