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Nicolás Van Looy
Benidorm
Martes, 28 de enero 2025, 11:06
A repeated assertion might lead one to believe that Benidorm Fest is a single word, but it is not. After three highly successful editions in terms of television audience, tourism business, and the promotion of the image of the Costa Blanca's tourist capital, tonight's first semi-final seems to be a continuation of a formula that pleases all parties. However, whether there will be a Benidorm Fest in 2026 remains, at least for now, an enigma. The agreement between the city and RTVE, despite the publicly expressed interest by both parties, is yet to be signed, reminding many of the obvious: Benidorm Fest consists of two words, and only one of them is immovable... and it is not, precisely, the localism.
In the background of the negotiations, as always, lies the economic aspect, and it is here where the main (and only) doubts arise. The multimillion-euro investments that the Generalitat Valenciana will have to face in the coming years to ensure the reconstruction of areas affected by the DANA could jeopardize other allocations, such as the one the Comunitat has been dedicating, since the Consell of Ximo Puig promoted the event, to the contest in which Spain chooses its representative for Eurovision.
The new director of Televisión Española, Sergio Calderón, was asked about this hypothetical sixth edition that should be held at the Palau d'Esports l'Illa de Benidorm in twelve months. Far from clearing up doubts, he merely stated that "it is still too early to determine our intentions for next year."
The public television executive, however, emphasized that TVE's roadmap involves continuing to maintain a format that, as previously mentioned, has performed very well in terms of audience. Calderón assured that "Televisión Española is fully committed to continuing to build the Benidorm Fest project within the strategy we will undertake throughout this year to firmly support Spanish music."
But the lack of decisiveness from Sergio Calderón regarding confirming the continuity of the 'euroevent' in the city that gives it its name has only fueled all sorts of theories. In a contest where social media plays a fundamental role, the absence of political authorities from the Generalitat Valenciana at the press conference where TVE announced the order of performances by the semi-finalists did not go unnoticed. Some have seen it as a sign of the future, although, for now, none of it goes beyond being just another of the countless theories (who knows if crazy or accurate) on social media.
The one who was present at that event was the mayor of Benidorm and president of the Provincial Council of Alicante, Toni Pérez, who assured that the city "will strongly support" continuing to partner with the Fest because, as he analyzed, "the product works very well for the interests of all three parties," namely, Benidorm, Generalitat, and RTVE.
That is why, although he emphasized that "nothing is ever certain," his intention and that of his government team is "to do everything possible for the fifth edition" and those that must come after, and he gave a nod to the event's name itself: "the city council will strongly support the Benidorm Fest, which with that name cannot be held in many places, to continue being the great cultural and RTVE bet, and for the fifth edition to be held in Benidorm... and even the fifteenth."
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