Spain in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

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 137 points.^[4] Spain is one of the most successful countries in the contest, with its first six entrants all finishing in the top 5. The country won in 2004, with "Antes muerta que sencilla" performed by María Isabel, as well as coming second place twice, in both 2003 and 2005. Spanish broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE) did not return after the 2006 contest, stating "the Junior Eurovision promotes stereotypes we do not share".^[5]

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 Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) was not planning to participate in the 2014 contest.^[6][7] In 2014, it was stated that the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) television 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.^{[8][9][10][11]} In 2015, several media outlets reported that RTVE was working on returning to the contest, but, these claims were not confirmed by the broadcaster.^[12][13]

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.^[14] On 28 September 2016, however, Spain was not listed as one of the seventeen participating countries in the contest.^[15] RTVE returned to the contest in 2019 after a 13-year absence.^[1] Their return proved to be successful, with "Marte" by Melani García in 2019 and "Palante" by Soleá in 2020 both reaching third place. Their success, however, could not be repeated with "Reír" by Levi Díaz, who placed 15th, the first and only time Spain has placed outside the top 10. In 2022, "Señorita" by Carlos Higes placed 6th, bringing Spain back to the top 10. In 2023, "Loviu" by Sandra Valero finished 2nd, giving Spain their best result since 2005.

On 14 February 2024, the EBU and RTVE announced that the latter would host the 2024 contest after previous winners France's France Télévisions opted against hosting. It was the first time that Spain hosted the contest and the first Eurovision event to be held in the country since the Eurovision Song Contest 1969 in Madrid.^[16] On 10 May 2024, the EBU and RTVE selected Madrid as the host city for the event.^[17]

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] TVE 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 Song Contest – Senior version of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.