MADRID: Spain should boycott next year’s Eurovision Song Contest if Israel takes part, Spanish Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun said Monday, joining other European nations threatening to pull out of the event.
His comments came a day after Spain’s La Vuelta cycling race was brought to a premature end due to chaotic pro-Palestinian protests in the center of Madrid.
Demonstrators denouncing the participation of the Israel-Premier Tech team in one of cycling’s major races overwhelmed police and invaded the course in the Spanish capital, forcing organizers to cut short the final stage.
“We have to ensure that Israel does not take part in the next edition of Eurovision. Just as Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland and also the Netherlands have already done, if we do not succeed in expelling Israel, Spain should not participate,” Urtasun told Spanish public radio.
It is up to the organizer of the event, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), to decide if Israel takes part, he added.
